We have observed the deuterated gas in the high-mass star formation region IRAS 05345+3157 at high-angular resolution, in order to determine the morphology and the nature of such gas. We have mapped the N2H+ (1-0) line with the Plateau de Bure Interferometer, and the N2D+ (3-2) and N2H+ (3-2) lines with the Submillimeter Array. The N2D+ (3-2) integrated emission is concentrated in two condensations, with masses of 2-3 and 9 M_sun and diameters of 0.05 and 0.09 pc, respectively. The high deuterium fractionation (0.1) and the line parameters in the N2D+ condensations indicate that they are likely low- to intermediate-mass pre-stellar cores, even though other scenarios are possible.
@article{arxiv.0711.4216,
title = {Highly deuterated pre-stellar cores in a high-mass star formation region},
author = {F. Fontani and P. Caselli and T. L. Bourke and R. Cesaroni and J. Brand},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0711.4216},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
4 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics