PRODIGE – envelope to disk with NOEMA

II. Small-scale temperature structure and streamer feeding the SVS13A protobinary based on CH₃CN and DCN^★

¹ Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, Giessenbachstrasse 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
e-mail: thhsieh@mpe.mpg.de
² Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin, 2515 Speedway, Austin, TX 78712, USA
³ Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM), 300 rue de la Piscine, 38406, Saint-Martin d’Hères, France
⁴ IPAG, Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, 38000 Grenoble, France
⁵ Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
⁶ I. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, Zülpicher Str. 77, 50937 Köln, Germany
⁷ Observatorio Astronómico Nacional (IGN), Alfonso XII 3, 28014 Madrid, Spain
⁸ Jesus College, University of Cambridge, Jesus Lane, Cambridge CB5 8BL, UK
⁹ Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
¹⁰ Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Bordeaux, Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, B18N, Allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 33615 Pessac, France
¹¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4E8, Canada

Received: 3 June 2022
Accepted: 7 November 2022

Abstract

Aims. We present high-sensitivity and high spectral-resolution NOEMA observations of the Class 0/I binary system SVS13A, composed of the low-mass protostars VLA4A and VLA4B, with a separation of ~90 au. VLA4A is undergoing an accretion burst that is enriching the chemistry of the surrounding gas, which provides an excellent opportunity to probe the chemical and physical conditions as well as the accretion process.

Methods. We observe the (12_K–11_K) lines of CH₃CN and CH₃¹³CN, the DCN (3–2) line, and the C¹⁸O (2–1) line toward SVS13A using NOEMA.

Results. We find complex line profiles at disk scales that cannot be explained by a single component or pure Keplerian motion. By adopting two velocity components to model the complex line profiles, we find that the temperatures and densities are significantly different among these two components. This suggests that the physical conditions of the emitting gas traced via CH₃CN can change dramatically within the circumbinary disk. In addition, combining our observations of DCN (3–2) with previous ALMA observations at high angular resolution, we find that the binary system (or VLA4A) might be fed by an infalling streamer from envelope scales (~700 au). If this is the case, this streamer contributes to the accretion of material onto the system at a rate of at least 1.4 × 10⁻⁶ M_⊙ yr⁻¹.

Conclusions. We conclude that the CH₃CN emission in SVS13A traces hot gas from a complex structure. This complexity might be affected by a streamer that is possibly infalling and funneling material into the central region.