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Register a new userThe ionized heart of a molecular disk. ALMA observations of the hyper-compact HII region G24.78+0.08 A1
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The study of hyper-compact (HC) or ultra-compact (UC) HII regions is fundamental to understanding the process of massive (> 8 M_sun) star formation. We employed Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) 1.4 mm Cycle 6 observations to investigate at high angular resolution (~0.050, corresponding to 330 au) the HC HII region inside molecular core A1 of the high-mass star-forming cluster G24.78+0.08. We used the H30alpha emission and different molecular lines of CH3CN and 13CH3CN to study the kinematics of the ionized and molecular gas, respectively. At the center of the HC HII region, at radii <~500 au, we observe two mutually perpendicular velocity gradients, which are directed along the axes at PA = 39 deg and PA = 133 deg, respectively. The velocity gradient directed along the axis at PA = 39 deg has an amplitude of 22 km/s mpc^(-1), which is much larger than the others, 3 km/s mpc^(-1). We interpret these velocity gradients as rotation around, and expansion along, the axis at PA = 39 deg. We propose a scenario where the H30alpha line traces the ionized heart of a disk-jet system that drives the formation of the massive star (~20 M_sun) responsible for the HC HII region. Such a scenario is also supported by the position-velocity plots of the CH3CN and 13CH3CN lines along the axis at PA = 133 deg, which are consistent with Keplerian rotation around a 20 M_sun star. Toward the HC HII region in G24.78+0.08, the coexistence of mass infall (at radii of ~5000 au), an outer molecular disk (from <~4000 au to >~500 au), and an inner ionized disk (<~500 au) indicates that the massive ionizing star is still actively accreting from its parental molecular core. To our knowledge, this is the first example of a molecular disk around a high-mass forming star that, while becoming internally ionized after the onset of the HII region, continues to accrete mass onto the ionizing star.
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Context. G24.78+0.08 A1 is a 20 Msun star surrounded by a hypercompact (HC) HII region, driving a CO bipolar outflow, and located at the center of a massive rotating toroid undergoing infall towards the HC region. Recent water maser observations suggest that the HC region is expanding and accretion onto the star is halted. Aims. This study aims to confirm the expansion scenario proposed for the HC region on the basis of recent H2O maser observations. Methods. We carried out continuum VLA observations at 1.3cm and 7mm with the A array plus Pie Town configuration to map the HC region towards G24 A1. Results. The emission of the HC region has been resolved and shows a ring shape structure. The profiles of the emission obtained by taking slices at different angles passing through the barycenter of the HC region confirm the shell structure of the emission. The ratio between the inner and the outer radius of the shell, Ri/Ro, derived fitting the normalized brightness temperature profile passing through the peak of the 7mm emission, is 0.9, which indicates that the shell is thin. The deconvolved outer radius estimated from the fit is 590 AU. These results imply that the HC region in G24 A1 cannot be described in terms of a classical, homogeneous HII region but is instead an ionized shell. This gives support to the model of an expanding wind-driven, ionized shell suggested by the kinematics and distribution of the H2O masers associated with the HC region. According to this model, the HC region is expanding on very short times scales, 21-66 yr.
Over a timescale of a few years, an observed change in the optically thick radio continuum flux can indicate whether an unresolved H II region around a newly formed massive star is changing in size. In this Letter we report on a study of archival VLA observations of the hypercompact H II region G24.78+0.08 A1 that shows a decrease of ~ 45 % in the 6-cm flux over a five year period. Such a decrease indicates a contraction of ~ 25 % in the ionized radius and could be caused by an increase in the ionized gas density if the size of the H II region is determined by a balance between photoionization and recombination. This finding is not compatible with continuous expansion of the H II region after the end of accretion onto the ionizing star, but is consistent with the hypothesis of gravitational trapping and ionized accretion flows if the mass-accretion rate is not steady.
We have identified 453 compact dense cores in 3 mm continuum emission maps in the ATOMS (ALMA Three-millimeter Observations of Massive Star-forming regions) survey, and compiled three catalogues of high-mass star forming cores. One catalogue, referred to as H/UC-HII catalogue, includes 89 cores that enshroud hyper/ultra compact (H/UC) HII regions as characterized by associated compact H40alpha emission. A second catalogue, referred to as pure s-cHMC, includes 32 candidate Hot Molecular Cores (HMCs) showing rich spectra (N>20lines) of complex organic molecules (COMs) but not associated with H/UC-HII regions. The third catalogue, referred to as pure w-cHMC, includes 58 candidate HMCs with relatively low levels of COM richness and not associated with H/UC-HII regions. These three catalogues of dense cores provide an important foundation for future studies of the early stages of high-mass star formation across the Milky Way. We also find that nearly half of H/UC-HII cores are candidate HMCs. From the number counts of COM-containing and H/UC-HII cores, we suggest that the duration of high-mass protostellar cores showing chemically rich features is at least comparable to the lifetime of H/UC-HII regions. For cores in the H/UC-HII catalogue, the width of the H40alpha line increases as the core size decreases, suggesting that the non-thermal dynamical and/or pressure line-broadening mechanisms dominate on the smaller scales of the H/UC-HII cores.
Triggered star formation around HII regions could be an important process. The Galactic HII region RCW 79 is a prototypical object for triggered high-mass star formation. We take advantage of Herschel data from the surveys HOBYS, Evolution of Interstellar Dust, and Hi-Gal to extract compact sources in this region, complemented with archival 2MASS, Spitzer, and WISE data to determine the physical parameters of the sources (e.g., envelope mass, dust temperature, and luminosity) by fitting the spectral energy distribution. We obtained a sample of 50 compact sources, 96% of which are situated in the ionization-compressed layer of cold and dense gas that is characterized by the column density PDF with a double-peaked lognormal distribution. The 50 sources have sizes of 0.1-0.4 pc with a typical value of 0.2 pc, temperatures of 11-26 K, envelope masses of 6-760 $M_odot$, densities of 0.1-44 $times$ $10^5$ cm$^{-3}$, and luminosities of 19-12712 $L_odot$. The sources are classified into 16 class 0, 19 intermediate, and 15 class I objects. Their distribution follows the evolutionary tracks in the diagram of bolometric luminosity versus envelope mass (Lbol-Menv) well. A mass threshold of 140 $M_odot$, determined from the Lbol-Menv diagram, yields 12 candidate massive dense cores that may form high-mass stars. The core formation efficiency (CFE) for the 8 massive condensations shows an increasing trend of the CFE with density. This suggests that the denser the condensation, the higher the fraction of its mass transformation into dense cores, as previously observed in other high-mass star-forming regions.
Context. This study is part of a large project to study the physics of accretion and molecular outflows towards a selected sample of high-mass star-forming regions that show evidence of infall and rotation from previous studies. Aims. We wish to make a thorough study at high-angular resolution of the structure and kinematics of the HMCs and corresponding molecular outflows in the high-mass star-forming region G24.78+0.08. Methods. We carried out SMA and IRAM PdBI observations at 1.3 and 1.4 mm, respectively, of dust and of typical high-density and molecular outflow tracers with resolutions of <1. Complementary IRAM 30-m 12CO and 13CO observations were carried out to recover the short spacing information of the molecular outflows. Results. The millimeter continuum emission towards cores G24 A1 and A2 has been resolved into 3 and 2 cores, respectively, and named A1, A1b, A1c, A2, and A2b. All these cores are aligned in a southeast-northwest direction coincident with that of the molecular outflows detected in the region, which suggests a preferential direction for star formation in this region. The masses of the cores range from 7 to 22 Msun, and the rotational temperatures from 128 to 180 K. The high-density tracers have revealed the existence of 2 velocity components towards A1, one of them peaks close to the position of the millimeter continuum peak and of the HC HII region, and is associated with the velocity gradient seen in CH3CN towards this core, while the other one peaks southwest of core A1 and is not associated with any millimeter continuum emission peak. The position-velocity plots along outflow A and the 13CO averaged blueshifted and redshifted emission indicate that this outflow is driven by core A2.
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