Discovery of a young stellar object near the water masers in W3(OH)

Journal Article · Sat Dec 15 04:00:00 EST 1984 · Astrophys. J., Lett. Ed.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/184403· OSTI ID:5924598

Turner, J L; Welch, W J

We present a high-resolution aperture synthesis map of the ultracompact H II region W3(OH) in the 88.6 GHz transition of HCN. The observations were made with the Hat Creek interferometer. The 1.2 beam represents the highest resolution yet achieved in a millimeter mapping of a molecular line. We detect an HCN emission feature near the position of the H/sub 2/O masers, approx.7'' east of the continuum source. The velocity of the HCN emission indicates a physical association with the masers. The luminosity and high brightness temperature of the emission and the broad HCN line width indicate the presence of an obscured young star, possibly a protostar, within the clump. We infer a dust optical depth of more than 50 at 10 ..mu..m toward the source, corresponding to a visual extinction of greater than 900 mag. Because of the high mid-infrared extinction, this cocoon star is only accessible to study by means of high-resolution molecular line observations.

• Research Organization: Department of Astronomy and Radio Astronomy Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley
• OSTI ID: 5924598
• Journal Information: Astrophys. J., Lett. Ed.; (United States), Journal Name: Astrophys. J., Lett. Ed.; (United States) Vol. 287:2; ISSN AJLEA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640105* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Galaxies
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
AMPLIFIERS
COLLISIONS
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
CYANOGEN
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
EMISSION
ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS
EQUIPMENT
EXCITATION
H2 REGIONS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INTERFEROMETRY
LUMINOSITY
MAPS
MASERS
MICROWAVE AMPLIFIERS
MICROWAVE EQUIPMENT
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PROTOSTARS
STELLAR ACTIVITY
STELLAR WINDS
WATER