A ring/disk/outflow system associated with W51 North: a very massive star in the making
Abstract
Sensitive and high angular resolution ( 0.4\arcsec) SO[22 22] and SiO[54] 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) 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) and collimated () 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 10 L. 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 agrees well with the SO[22 22] 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.
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