English

A ring/disk/outflow system associated with W51 North: a very massive star in the making

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics 2011-02-11 v1 Astrophysics of Galaxies

Abstract

Sensitive and high angular resolution (\sim 0.4\arcsec) SO2_2[222,20_{2,20} \to 221,21_{1,21}] and SiO[5\to4] line and 1.3 and 7 mm continuum observations made with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) and the Very Large Array (VLA) towards the young massive cluster W51 IRS2 are presented. We report the presence of a large (of about 3000 AU) and massive (40 M_\odot) dusty circumstellar disk and a hot gas molecular ring around a high-mass protostar or a compact small stellar system associated with W51 North. The simultaneous observations of the silicon monoxide molecule, an outflow gas tracer, further revealed a massive (200 M_\odot) and collimated (14\sim14^\circ) outflow nearly perpendicular to the dusty and molecular structures suggesting thus the presence of a single very massive protostar with a bolometric luminosity of more than 105^5 L_\odot. A molecular hybrid LTE model of a Keplerian and infalling ring with an inner cavity and a central stellar mass of more than 60 M_\odot agrees well with the SO2_2[222,20_{2,20} \to 221,21_{1,21}] line observations. Finally, these results suggest that mechanisms, such as mergers of low- and intermediate- mass stars, might be not necessary for forming very massive stars.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0904.0325,
  title  = {A ring/disk/outflow system associated with W51 North: a very massive star in the making},
  author = {Luis A. Zapata and Paul T. P. Ho and Peter Schilke and Luis F. Rodríguez and Karl Menten and Aina Palau and Robin Garrod},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0904.0325},
  year   = {2011}
}

Comments

Accepted by The Astrophysical Journal

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