ARE LARGE, COMETARY-SHAPED PROPLYDS REALLY (FREE-FLOATING) EVAPORATING GAS GLOBULES?

Journal Article · Thu Dec 20 00:00:00 EST 2012 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/761/2/L21· OSTI ID:22078376

Sahai, R ^[1]; Guesten, R ^[2]

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1. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, MS 183-900, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States)
2. Max-Planck-Institut fuer Radioastronomie, Auf dem Huegel 69, D-53121 Bonn (Germany)

We report the detection of strong and compact molecular line emission (in the CO J = 3-2, 4-3, 6-5, 7-6, {sup 13}CO J = 3-2, HCN, and HCO{sup +} J = 4-3 transitions) from a cometary-shaped object (Carina-frEGG1) in the Carina star-forming region (SFR) previously classified as a photoevaporating protoplanetary disk (proplyd). We derive a molecular mass of 0.35 M{sub Sun} for Carina-frEGG1, which shows that it is not a proplyd, but belongs to a class of free-floating evaporating gas globules (frEGGs) recently found in the Cygnus SFR by Sahai et al. Archival adaptive optics near-IR (Ks) images show a central hourglass-shaped nebula. The derived source luminosity (about 8-18 L{sub Sun }), the hourglass morphology, and the presence of collimated jets seen in Hubble Space Telescope images imply the presence of a jet-driving, young, low-mass star deeply embedded in the dust inside Carina-frEGG1. Our results suggest that the true nature of many or most such cometary-shaped objects seen in massive SFRs and previously labeled as proplyds has been misunderstood, and that these are really frEGGs.

• OSTI ID: 22078376
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 761, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
CARBON MONOXIDE
EMISSION
HYDROCYANIC ACID
IMAGES
JETS
LUMINOSITY
MOLECULES
MORPHOLOGY
NEBULAE
OPTICS
PROTOPLANETS
SPECTRA
STARS
TELESCOPES