Images of shock-excited molecular hydrogen in young stellar outflows

Journal Article · Tue May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990 · Astrophysical Journal; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/168683· OSTI ID:6699952

Garden, R P; Russell, A P.G.; Burton, M G ^[1]

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1. California Univ., Irvine (USA) Joint Astronomy Center, Hilo, HI (USA)

High-angular resolution molecular hydrogen (H2) v = 1-0 S(1) line images of several well-known molecular outflow sources (DR 21, NGC 2071, HH 7-11, and HH 12) are presented. It is found that all of the outflow sources possess highly collimated jets of shock-excited gas that are extremely clumpy and often consist of bright knots that are placed periodically along the jet axis. The H2 emission-line jets are significantly more collimated than their corresponding CO outflows and remain collimated to large distances from their driving source. In DR 21 and NGC 2071, the H2 jets appear to become more collimated with increasing distance from the central source, suggesting that they are pressure-confined by the ambient cloud medium. In HH 7-11 and HH 12 the shock-excited ionized and molecular components are spatially coincident and appear to be of comparable shape and size; this suggests that the shocked gas is highly mixed on scales significantly smaller than the current spatial resolution. 47 refs.

• OSTI ID: 6699952
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal; (USA), Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal; (USA) Vol. 354; ISSN ASJOA; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640102* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Stars & Quasi-Stellar
Radio & X-Ray Sources
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ELEMENTS
EMISSION SPECTRA
FLUID FLOW
GAS FLOW
HELMHOLTZ INSTABILITY
HERBIG-HARO OBJECTS
HYDROGEN
INSTABILITY
INTERSTELLAR SPACE
MASS TRANSFER
NONMETALS
PLASMA INSTABILITY
PLASMA MACROINSTABILITIES
PROTOSTARS
RESOLUTION
SHOCK WAVES
SPACE
SPATIAL RESOLUTION
SPECTRA
STAR EVOLUTION
STELLAR ACTIVITY
STELLAR WINDS