We report multi-epoch VLBI H$_2$O maser observations towards the compact cluster of YSOs close to the Herbig Be star LkH$alpha$ 234. This cluster includes LkH$alpha$ 234 and at least nine more YSOs that are formed within projected distances of $sim$1
0 arcsec ($sim$9,000 au). We detect H$_2$O maser emission towards four of these YSOs. In particular, our VLBI observations (including proper motion measurements) reveal a remarkable very compact ($sim$0.2 arcsec = $sim$180 au), bipolar H$_2$O maser outflow emerging from the embedded YSO VLA 2. We estimate a kinematic age of $sim$40 yr for this bipolar outflow, with expanding velocities of $sim$20 km s$^{-1}$ and momentum rate $dot M_w V_w$ $simeq$ $10^{-4}-10^{-3}$ M$_{odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ km s$^{-1}$$times (Omega$/$4pi)$, powered by a YSO of a few solar masses. We propose that the outflow is produced by recurrent episodic jet ejections associated with the formation of this YSO. Short-lived episodic ejection events have previously been found towards high-mass YSOs. We show now that this behaviour is also present in intermediate-mass YSOs. These short-lived episodic ejections are probably related to episodic increases in the accretion rate, as observed in low-mass YSOs. We predict the presence of an accretion disk associated with VLA 2. If detected, this would represent one of the few known examples of intermediate-mass stars with a disk-YSO-jet system at scales of a few hundred au.
We present multi-epoch Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) H$_2$O maser observations toward the massive young stellar objects (YSOs) VLA 2 and VLA 3 in the star-forming region AFGL 2591. Through these observations, we have extended the study of the evolu
tion of the masers towards these objects up to a time span of $sim$ 10 yrs, measuring their radial velocities and proper motions. The H$_2$O masers in VLA 3, the most massive YSO in AFGL 2591 ($sim$ 30--40~M$_{odot}$), are grouped within projected distances of $lesssim$ 40 mas ($lesssim$ 130 AU) from VLA 3. In contrast to other H$_2$O masers in AFGL 2591, the masers associated with VLA 3 are significantly blueshifted (up to $sim$ 30 km s$^{-1}$) with respect to the velocity of the ambient molecular cloud. We find that the H$_2$O maser cluster as a whole, has moved westwards of VLA~3 between the 2001 and 2009 observations, with a proper motion of $sim$ 1.2 mas yr$^{-1}$ ($sim$ 20 km s$^{-1}$). We conclude that these masers are tracing blueshifted outflowing material, shock excited at the inner parts of a cavity seen previously in ammonia molecular lines and infrared images, and proposed to be evacuated by the outflow associated with the massive VLA 3 source. The masers in the region of VLA 2 are located at projected distances of $sim$ 0.7$$ ($sim$ 2300 AU) north from this source, with their kinematics suggesting that they are excited by a YSO other than VLA 2. This driving source has not yet been identified.
VLBI multi-epoch water maser observations are a powerful tool to study the dense, warm shocked gas very close to massive protostars. The very high-angular resolution of these observations allow us to measure the proper motions of the masers in a few
weeks, and together with the radial velocity, to determine their full kinematics. In this paper we present a summary of the main observational results obtained toward the massive star-forming regions of Cepheus A and W75N, among them: (i) the identification of different centers of high-mass star formation activity at scales of 100 AU; (ii) the discovery of new phenomena associated with the early stages of high-mass protostellar evolution (e.g., isotropic gas ejections); and (iii) the identification of the simultaneous presence of a wide-angle outflow and a highly collimated jet in the massive object Cep A HW2, similar to what is observed in some low-mass protostars. Some of the implications of these results in the study of high-mass star formation are discussed.
A debated topic in star formation theory is the role of magnetic fields during the protostellar phase of high-mass stars. It is still unclear how magnetic fields influence the formation and dynamics of massive disks and outflows. Most current informa
tion on magnetic fields close to high-mass protostars comes from polarized maser emissions, which allows us to investigate the magnetic field on small scales by using very long-baseline interferometry. The massive star-forming region W75N contains three radio continuum sources (VLA1, VLA2, and VLA3), at three different evolutionary stages, and associated masers, while a large-scale molecular bipolar outflow is also present. Very recently, polarization observations of the 6.7 GHz methanol masers at milliarsecond resolution have been able to probe the strength and structure of the magnetic field over more than 2000 AU around VLA1. The magnetic field is parallel to the outflow, suggesting that VLA1 is its powering source. The observations of water masers at 22 GHz can give more information about the gas dynamics and the magnetic fields around VLA1 and VLA2. The NRAO Very Long Baseline Array was used to measure the linear polarization and the Zeeman-splitting of the 22 GHz water masers in the star-forming region W75N. We detected 124 water masers, 36 around VLA1 and 88 around VLA2 of W75N, which indicate two different physical environments around the two sources, where VLA1 is in a more evolved state. The linear polarization of the masers confirms the tightly ordered magnetic field around VLA1, which is aligned with the large-scale molecular outflow, and also reveals an ordered magnetic field around VLA2, which is not parallel to the outflow. [abridged]
We report SMA 335 GHz continuum observations with angular resolution of ~0.3, together with VLA ammonia observations with ~1 resolution toward Cep A HW 2. We find that the flattened disk structure of the dust emission observed by Patel et al. is pres
erved at the 0.3 scale, showing an elongated structure of ~$0.6 size (450 AU) peaking on HW 2. In addition, two ammonia cores are observed, one associated with a hot-core previously reported, and an elongated core with a double peak separated by ~1.3 and with signs of heating at the inner edges of the gas facing HW 2. The double-peaked ammonia structure, as well as the double-peaked CH3CN structure reported previously (and proposed to be two independent hot-cores), surround both the dust emission as well as the double-peaked SO2 disk structure found by Jimenez-Serra et al. All these results argue against the interpretation of the elongated dust-gas structure as due to a chance-superposition of different cores; instead, they imply that it is physically related to the central massive object within a disk-protostar-jet system.
