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The dissipation of angular momentum of collapsing molecular cores is a key component in the formation of stars. Previous observations have reported that highly collimated protostellar jets can remove angular momentum from low-mass protostars. In contrast, there is no clear evidence that this occurs for high-mass protostars. Here we report the results of developing a data analysis platform to investigate whether molecular masers in the outflows of two high-mass star forming regions, DR21(OH) and W75N(B), trace net angular momentum. No statistically significant evidence was found for masers to trace net angular momentum transfer in these regions. However, our results show that high-angular resolution observations of masers near high-mass protostars have the potential of revealing this phenomenon at scales similar to the specific angular momentum carried by planets in our Solar System.
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The Evolution of Protostellar Outflow Cavities, Kinematics, and Angular Distribution of Momentum and Energy in Orion A: Evidence for Dynamical Cores
Abstract We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations of the ∼10,000 au environment surrounding 21 protostars in the Orion A molecular cloud tracing outflows. Our sample is composed of Class 0 to flat-spectrum protostars, spanning the full ∼1 Myr lifetime. We derive the angular distribution of outflow momentum and energy profiles and obtain the first two-dimensional instantaneous mass, momentum, and energy ejection rate maps using our new approach: the pixel flux-tracing technique. Our results indicate that by the end of the protostellar phase, outflows will remove ∼2–4 M ⊙ from the surrounding ∼1 M ⊙ low-mass core. These high values indicate that outflows remove a significant amount of gas from their parent cores and continuous core accretion from larger scales is needed to replenish core material for star formation. This poses serious challenges to the concept of cores as well-defined mass reservoirs , and hence to the simplified core-to-star conversion prescriptions. Furthermore, we show that cavity opening angles, and momentum and energy distributions all increase with protostar evolutionary stage. This is clear evidence that even garden-variety protostellar outflows: (a) effectively inject energy and momentum into their environments on 10,000 au scales, and (b) significantly disrupt their natal cores, ejecting a large fraction of the mass that would have otherwise fed the nascent star. Our results support the conclusion that protostellar outflows have a direct impact on how stars get their mass, and that the natal sites of individual low-mass star formation are far more dynamic than commonly accepted theoretical paradigms.
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- PAR ID:
- 10428180
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Volume:
- 947
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 0004-637X
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 25
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acba13
