Open AccessL 43: the late stages of a molecular outflow
Author(s) -
Stephen Bence,
R. Padman,
K. G. Isaak,
Martina C. Wiedner,
G. S. Wright
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-8711.1998.01789.x
Subject(s) - physics , outflow , astronomy , astrophysics , meteorology
Our new 21‐arcsec resolution CO J = 2 → 1 map of the L 43 dark cloud shows a poorly collimated molecular outflow, with little evidence for wings at velocities 10 km s −1 . The outflow appears not to be currently driven by a jet: its structure can instead be modelled as a slowly expanding shell. The shell may be compressed either by a wide‐angled wind catching up with an existing shell (as in the case of planetary nebulæ), or by the thermal pressure of a hot low‐emissivity medium interior to the shell. The outflow is most probably in a late stage of evolution, and appears to be in the process of blowing away its molecular cloud. We also present a 45‐arcsec resolution CO J = 1 → 0 map of the whole molecular cloud, showing that the outflow structure is clearly visible even in the integrated intensity of this low excitation line, and suggesting that rapid mapping may prove useful as a way of finding regions of outflow activity. We also examine the immediate surroundings of the driving source with 450 μm imaging: this confirms that the outflow has already evacuated a bay in the vicinity of the young stellar object.