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Register a new userHigh-pressure, low-abundance water in bipolar outflows. Results from a Herschel-WISH survey
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(Abridged) We present a survey of the water emission in a sample of more than 20 outflows from low mass young stellar objects with the goal of characterizing the physical and chemical conditions of the emitting gas. We have used the HIFI and PACS instruments on board the Herschel Space Observatory to observe the two fundamental lines of ortho-water at 557 and 1670 GHz. These observations were part of the Water In Star-forming regions with Herschel (WISH) key program, and have been complemented with CO and H2 data. We find that the emission from water has a different spatial and velocity distribution from that of the J=1-0 and 2-1 transitions of CO, but it has a similar spatial distribution to H2, and its intensity follows the H2 intensity derived from IRAC images. This suggests that water traces the outflow gas at hundreds of kelvins responsible for the H2 emission, and not the component at tens of kelvins typical of low-J CO emission. A warm origin of the water emission is confirmed by a remarkable correlation between the intensities of the 557 and 1670 GHz lines, which also indicates the emitting gas has a narrow range of excitations. A non-LTE radiative transfer analysis shows that while there is some ambiguity on the exact combination of density and temperature values, the gas thermal pressure nT is constrained within less than a factor of 2. The typical nT over the sample is 4 10^{9} cm^{-3}K, which represents an increase of 10^4 with respect to the ambient value. The data also constrain within a factor of 2 the water column density. When this quantity is combined with H2 column densities, the typical water abundance is only 3 10^{-7}, with an uncertainty of a factor of 3. Our data challenge current C-shock models of water production due to a combination of wing-line profiles, high gas compressions, and low abundances.
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To understand the origin of water line emission and absorption during high-mass star formation, we decompose high-resolution Herschel-HIFI line spectra toward 19 high-mass star-forming regions into three distinct physical components. Protostellar envelopes are usually seen as narrow absorptions or emissions in the H2O 1113 and 1669 GHz ground-state lines, the H2O 987 GHz excited-state line, and the H2O-18 1102 GHz ground-state line. Broader features due to outflows are usually seen in absorption in the H2O 1113 and 1669 GHz lines, in 987 GHz emission, and not seen in H2O-18, indicating a low column density and a high excitation temperature. The H2O 1113 and 1669 GHz spectra show narrow absorptions by foreground clouds along the line of sight, which have a low column density and a low excitation temperature, although their H2O ortho/para ratios are close to 3. The intensities of the H2O 1113 and 1669 GHz lines do not show significant trends with luminosity, mass, or age. In contrast, the 987 GHz line flux increases with luminosity and the H2O-18 line flux decreases with mass. Furthermore, appearance of the envelope in absorption in the 987 GHz and H2O-18 lines seems to be a sign of an early evolutionary stage. We conclude that the ground state transitions of H2O trace the outer parts of the envelopes, so that the effects of star formation are mostly noticeable in the outflow wings. These lines are heavily affected by absorption, so that line ratios of H2O involving the ground states must be treated with caution. The average H2O abundance in high-mass protostellar envelopes does not change much with time. The 987 GHz line appears to be a good tracer of the mean weighted dust temperature of the source, which may explain why it is readily seen in distant galaxies.
Context: Outflows are an important part of the star formation process as both the result of ongoing active accretion and one of the main sources of mechanical feedback on small scales. Water is the ideal tracer of these effects because it is present in high abundance in various parts of the protostar. Method: We present textit{Herschel} HIFI spectra of multiple water-transitions towards 29 nearby Class 0/I protostars as part of the WISH Survey. These are decomposed into different Gaussian components, with each related to one of three parts of the protostellar system; quiescent envelope, cavity shock and spot shocks in the jet and at the base of the outflow. We then constrain the excitation conditions present in the two outflow-related components. Results: Water emission is optically thick but effectively thin, with line ratios that do not vary with velocity, in contrast to CO. The physical conditions of the cavity and spot shocks are similar, with post-shock H$_{2}$ densities of order 10$^{5}-$10$^{8}$,cm$^{-3}$ and H$_{2}$O column densities of order 10$^{16}-$10$^{18}$,cm$^{-2}$. H$_{2}$O emission originates in compact emitting regions: for the spot shocks these correspond to point sources with radii of order 10-200,AU, while for the cavity shocks these come from a thin layer along the outflow cavity wall with thickness of order 1-30,AU. Conclusions: Water emission at the source position traces two distinct kinematic components in the outflow; J shocks at the base of the outflow or in the jet, and C shocks in a thin layer in the cavity wall. Class I sources have similar excitation conditions to Class 0 sources, but generally smaller line-widths and emitting region sizes. We suggest that it is the velocity of the wind driving the outflow, rather than the decrease in envelope density or mass, that is the cause of the decrease in H$_{2}$O intensity between Class 0 and I.
`Water In Star-forming regions with Herschel (WISH) is a key program on the Herschel Space Observatory designed to probe the physical and chemical structure of young stellar objects using water and related molecules and to follow the water abundance from collapsing clouds to planet-forming disks. About 80 sources are targeted covering a wide range of luminosities and evolutionary stages, from cold pre-stellar cores to warm protostellar envelopes and outflows to disks around young stars. Both the HIFI and PACS instruments are used to observe a variety of lines of H2O, H218O and chemically related species. An overview of the scientific motivation and observational strategy of the program is given together with the modeling approach and analysis tools that have been developed. Initial science results are presented. These include a lack of water in cold gas at abundances that are lower than most predictions, strong water emission from shocks in protostellar environments, the importance of UV radiation in heating the gas along outflow walls across the full range of luminosities, and surprisingly widespread detection of the chemically related hydrides OH+ and H2O+ in outflows and foreground gas. Quantitative estimates of the energy budget indicate that H2O is generally not the dominant coolant in the warm dense gas associated with protostars. Very deep limits on the cold gaseous water reservoir in the outer regions of protoplanetary disks are obtained which have profound implications for our understanding of grain growth and mixing in disks.
Bipolar outflows constitute some of the best laboratories to study shock chemistry in the interstellar medium. A number of molecular species have their abundance enhanced by several orders of magnitude in the outflow gas, likely as a combined result of dust mantle disruption and high temperature gas chemistry, and therefore become sensitive indicators of the physical changes taking place in the shock. Identifying these species and understanding their chemical behavior is therefore of high interest both to chemical studies and to our understanding of the star-formation process. Here we review some of the recent progress in the study of the molecular composition of bipolar outflows, with emphasis in the tracers most relevant for shock chemistry. As we discuss, there has been rapid progress both in characterizing the molecular composition of certain outflows as well as in modeling the chemical processes likely involved. However, a number of limitations still affect our understanding of outflow chemistry. These include a very limited statistical approach in the observations and a dependence of the models on plane-parallel shocks, which cannot reproduce the observed wing morphology of the lines. We finish our contribution by discussing the chemistry of the so-called extremely high velocity component, which seems different from the rest of the outflow and may originate in the wind from the very vicinity of the protostar.
(abridged) Data and results from the WISH key program are summarized, designed to provide a legacy data set to address its physics and chemistry. WISH targeted ~80 sources along the two axes of luminosity and evolutionary stage: from low- to high-mass protostars and from pre-stellar cores to protoplanetary disks. Lines of H2O, HDO, OH, CO and [O I] were observed with the HIFI and PACS instruments, complemented by molecules that probe UV, X-ray or grain chemistry. Most of the far-infrared water emission from protostars is found to be compact, originating from warm outflowing and shocked gas at high density and temperature in at least two physical components. This gas is not probed by low-J CO lines, only by J>14. Water is a significant, but not dominant, coolant. Its abundance is universally low, of order H2O/H2=2E-6, pointing to shock and outflow cavity models that include UV radiation at 100-1000 times the ISRF. In cold quiescent pre-stellar cores and envelopes, the water abundance structure is accurately probed through velocity-resolved line profiles, confirming basic chemistry networks. The gaseous HDO/H2O ratio of 0.025, much higher than that of bulk ice, is representative of the outer photodesorbed ice layers and cold chemistry. Water abundances in the inner hot cores are high, but with variations from 5E-6 to 2E-4. Combined analyses of water gas and ice show that up to 50% of the oxygen budget may be missing, with possible explanations discussed. Water vapor emission from disks is weak, indicating that water ice is locked up in larger pebbles early on and that these pebbles have settled and drifted inward by the Class II stage. Quantitatively, many oceans of water ice are available. Extragalactic low-J H2O emission is mostly compact and collisionally excited. Prospects for future mid- to far-infrared missions are given.
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