Orion KL: the hot core that is not a “hot core”

¹ Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany
e-mail: lzapata@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de
² Centro de Radioastronomía y Astrofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelia 58090, México

Received: 12 March 2010
Accepted: 11 January 2011

Abstract

We present sensitive high angular resolution submillimeter and millimeter observations of torsionally/vibrationally highly excited lines of the CH₃OH, HC₃N, SO₂, and CH₃CN molecules and of the continuum emission at 870 and 1300 μm from the Orion KL region, made with the Submillimeter Array (SMA). These observations and SMA CO J = 3−2 and J = 2−1 imaging of the explosive flow originating in this region suggest that the molecular Orion “hot core” is a pre-existing density enhancement heated from the outside by the explosive event. Unlike in other hot cores, we do not find any self-luminous submillimeter, radio, or infrared source embedded in the hot molecular gas, nor observe filamentary CO flow structures or “fingers” in the shadow of the hot core pointing away from the explosion center. The low-excitation CH₃CN emission shows the typical molecular heart-shaped structure, traditionally named the hot core, and is centered close to the dynamical origin of the explosion. The highest excitation CH₃CN lines all originate from the northeast lobe of the heart-shaped structure, i.e. from the densest and most highly obscured parts of the extended ridge. The torsionally excited CH₃OH and vibrationally excited HC₃N lines appear to form a shell around the strongest submillimeter continuum source. All of these observations suggest that the southeast and southwest sectors of the explosive flow have impinged on a pre-existing very dense part of the extended ridge, thus creating the bright Orion KL hot core. However, additional theoretical and observational studies are required to test this new heating scenario.