Issue |
A&A
Volume 447, Number 2, February IV 2006
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | 655 - 665 | |
Section | Stellar structure and evolution | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20053817 | |
Published online | 07 February 2006 |
Bispectrum speckle interferometry of the massive protostellar outflow source IRAS 23151+5912
1
Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany e-mail: preib@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de
2
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
3
Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
4
Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
5
Armagh Observatory, College Hill, Armagh BT61 9DG, Northern Ireland
Received:
12
July
2005
Accepted:
17
October
2005
We present bispectrum speckle interferometry
of the massive protostellar object IRAS 23151+5912 in the near-infrared K' band.
The reconstructed image shows the diffuse nebulosity
north-east of two point-like sources in unprecedented detail.
The comparison of our near-infrared image with mm continuum and CO
molecular line maps shows
that the brighter of the two point sources lies near the center of the
mm peak, indicating that it is a high-mass protostar.
The nebulosity coincides with the blue-shifted molecular
outflow component. The most prominent feature in the nebulosity is
a bow-shock-like arc.
We assume that this feature is associated with a precessing jet
which has created an inward-pointed cone in the swept-up material.
We present numerical jet simulations that reproduce this and several
other features observed in our speckle image of the nebulosity.
Our data also reveal a linear structure connecting
the central point source to the extended
diffuse nebulosity. This feature may represent the innermost part
of a jet that drives the
strong molecular outflow (PA ) from IRAS 23151+5912.
With the aid of radiative transfer calculations, we demonstrate
that, in general, the observed inner
structures of the circumstellar material surrounding high-mass stars
are strongly influenced by the
orientation and symmetry of the bipolar cavity.
Key words: techniques: interferometric / stars: formation
© ESO, 2006
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