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2011•The Astrophysical JournalOpen access

A MASSIVE PROTOSTAR EMBEDDED IN THE SCUBA CORE JCMT 18354-0649S

Ming Zhu, C. J. Davis, Yufang Wu, B. A. Whitney, Thomas Robitaille, R. Peng

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Abstract

We report the discovery of an extremely red object embedded in the massive SCUBA core JCMT 18354-0649S. This object is not associated with any known radio or far-IR source, though it appears in Spitzer IRAC data obtained as part of the GLIMPSE survey. At shorter wavelengths, this embedded source exhibits an extreme color, K − L ' = 6.7. At an assumed distance of 5.7 kpc, this source has a near-IR luminosity of ∼1000 L ☉ . Its spectral energy distribution (SED) rises sharply from 2.1 μm to 8 μm, similar to that of a Class 0 young stellar object. Theoretical modeling of the SED indicates that the central star has a mass of 6–12 M ☉ , with an optical extinction of more than 30. As both inflow and outflow motions are present in JCMT 18354-0649S, we suggest that this deeply embedded source is (1) a massive protostar in the early stages of accretion, and (2) the driving source of a massive molecular outflow evident in HCN J = 3–2 profiles observed toward this region.

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We report the discovery of an extremely red object embedded in the massive SCUBA core JCMT 18354-0649S. This object is not associated with any known radio or far-IR source, though it appears in Spitzer IRAC data obtained as part of the GLIMPSE survey. At shorter wavelengths, this embedded source exhibits an extreme color, K − L ' = 6.7. At an assumed distance of 5.7 kpc, this source has a near-IR luminosity of ∼1000 L ☉ . Its spectral energy distribution (SED) rises sharply from 2.1 μm to 8 μm, similar to that of a Class 0 young stellar object. Theoretical modeling of the SED indicates that the central star has a mass of 6–12 M ☉ , with an optical extinction of more than 30. As both inflow and outflow motions are present in JCMT 18354-0649S, we suggest that this deeply embedded source is (1) a massive protostar in the early stages of accretion, and (2) the driving source of a massive molecular outflow evident in HCN J = 3–2 profiles observed toward this region.

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Available abstract

We report the discovery of an extremely red object embedded in the massive SCUBA core JCMT 18354-0649S. This object is not associated with any known radio or far-IR source, though it appears in Spitzer IRAC data obtained as part of the GLIMPSE survey. At shorter wavelengths, this embedded source exhibits an extreme color, K − L ' = 6.7. At an assumed distance of 5.7 kpc, this source has a near-IR luminosity of ∼1000 L ☉ . Its spectral energy distribution (SED) rises sharply from 2.1 μm to 8 μm, similar to that of a Class 0 young stellar object. Theoretical modeling of the SED indicates that the central star has a mass of 6–12 M ☉ , with an optical extinction of more than 30. As both inflow and outflow motions are present in JCMT 18354-0649S, we suggest that this deeply embedded source is (1) a massive protostar in the early stages of accretion, and (2) the driving source of a massive molecular outflow evident in HCN J = 3–2 profiles observed toward this region.

Key concepts: Protostar, Physics, Astrophysics, Outflow, Young stellar object, Spectral energy distribution, Star formation, Astronomy

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