Engineering topics

Zhang, Qizhou

Publications and source records attributed to Zhang, Qizhou.

17 records

DOE OSTI2017

ALMA Reveals Sequential High-mass Star Formation in the G9.62+0.19 Complex

Stellar feedback from high-mass stars (e.g., H ii regions) can strongly influence the surrounding interstellar medium and regulate star formation. Our new ALMA observations reveal sequential high-mass star formation taking place within one subvirial filamentary clump (the G9.62 clump) in the G9.62+0.19 complex. The 12 dense cores (MM1–MM12) detected by ALMA are at very different evolutionary stages, from the starless core phase to the UC H ii region phase. Three dense cores (MM6, MM7/G, MM8/F) are associated with outflows. The mass–velocity diagrams of the outflows associated with MM7/G and MM8/F can be well-fit by broken power laws. The mass–velocity diagram of the SiO outflow associated with MM8/F breaks much earlier than other outflow tracers (e.g., CO, SO, CS, HCN), suggesting that SiO traces newly shocked gas, while the other molecular lines (e.g., CO, SO, CS, HCN) mainly trace the ambient gas continuously entrained by outflow jets. Five cores (MM1, MM3, MM5, MM9, MM10) are massive starless core candidates whose masses are estimated to be larger than 25 M {sub ☉}, assuming a dust temperature of ≤20 K. The shocks from the expanding H ii regions (“B” and “C”) to the west may have a great impact on the G9.62 clump by compressing it into a filament and inducing core collapse successively, leading to sequential star formation. Our findings suggest that stellar feedback from H ii regions may enhance the star formation efficiency and suppress low-mass star formation in adjacent pre-existing massive clumps.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2017

ALMA Observations of Dust Polarization and Molecular Line Emission from the Class 0 Protostellar Source Serpens SMM1

We present high angular resolution dust polarization and molecular line observations carried out with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) toward the Class 0 protostar Serpens SMM1. By complementing these observations with new polarization observations from the Submillimeter Array (SMA) and archival data from the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA) and the James Clerk Maxwell Telescopes (JCMT), we can compare the magnetic field orientations at different spatial scales. We find major changes in the magnetic field orientation between large (∼0.1 pc) scales—where the magnetic field is oriented E–W, perpendicular to the major axis of the dusty filament where SMM1 is embedded—and the intermediate and small scales probed by CARMA (∼1000 au resolution), the SMA (∼350 au resolution), and ALMA (∼140 au resolution). The ALMA maps reveal that the redshifted lobe of the bipolar outflow is shaping the magnetic field in SMM1 on the southeast side of the source; however, on the northwestern side and elsewhere in the source, low-velocity shocks may be causing the observed chaotic magnetic field pattern. High-spatial-resolution continuum and spectral-line observations also reveal a tight (∼130 au) protobinary system in SMM1-b, the eastern component of which is launching an extremely high-velocity, one-sided jet visible in both CO(J=2→1) and SiO(J=5→4); however, that jet does not appear to be shaping the magnetic field. These observations show that with the sensitivity and resolution of ALMA, we can now begin to understand the role that feedback (e.g., from protostellar outflows) plays in shaping the magnetic field in very young, star-forming sources like SMM1.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2017

SMA Observations of the Hot Molecular Core IRAS 18566+0408

We present Submillimeter Array (SMA) observations toward the high-mass star-forming region IRAS 18566+0408. Observations at the 1.3 mm continuum and in several molecular line transitions were performed in the compact (2.″4 angular resolution) and very-extended (∼0.″4 angular resolution) configurations. The continuum emission from the compact configuration shows a dust core of 150 M {sub ⊙}, while the very-extended configuration reveals a dense (2.6 × 10{sup 7} cm{sup −3}) and compact (∼4000 au) condensation of 8 M {sub ⊙}. We detect 31 molecular transitions from 14 species including CO isotopologues, SO, CH{sub 3}OH, OCS, and CH{sub 3}CN. Using the different k-ladders of the CH{sub 3}CN line, we derive a rotational temperature at the location of the continuum peak of 240 K. The {sup 12}CO(2−1), {sup 13}CO(2−1), and SO(6{sub 5}--5{sub 4}) lines reveal a molecular outflow at PA ∼ 135° centered at the continuum peak. The extended {sup 12}CO(2−1) emission has been recovered with the IRAM 30 m telescope observations. Using the combined data set, we derive an outflow mass of 16.8 M {sub ⊙}. The chemically rich spectrum and the high rotational temperature confirm that IRAS 18566+0408 is harboring a hot molecular core. We find no clear velocity gradient that could suggest the presence of a rotational disk-like structure, even at the high-resolution observations obtained with the very-extended configuration.

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DOE OSTI2017

Magnetized Converging Flows toward the Hot Core in the Intermediate/High-mass Star-forming Region NGC 6334 V

We present Submillimeter Array (SMA) observations at 345 GHz toward the intermediate/high-mass cluster-forming region NGC 6334 V. From the dust emission we spatially resolve three dense condensations, the brightest one presenting the typical chemistry of a hot core. The magnetic field (derived from the dust polarized emission) shows a bimodal converging pattern toward the hot core. The molecular emission traces two filamentary structures at two different velocities, separated by 2 km s{sup −1}, converging to the hot core and following the magnetic field distribution. We compare the velocity field and the magnetic field derived from the SMA observations with magnetohydrodynamic simulations of star-forming regions dominated by gravity. This comparison allows us to show how the gas falls in from the larger-scale extended dense core (∼0.1 pc) of NGC 6334 V toward the higher-density hot core region (∼0.02 pc) through two distinctive converging flows dragging the magnetic field, whose strength seems to have been overcome by gravity.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2017

Formation and Atmosphere of Complex Organic Molecules of the HH 212 Protostellar Disk

HH 212 is a nearby (400 pc) Class 0 protostellar system recently found to host a “hamburger”-shaped dusty disk with a radius of ∼60 au, deeply embedded in an infalling-rotating flattened envelope. We have spatially resolved this envelope-disk system with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array at up to ∼16 au (0.″04) resolution. The envelope is detected in HCO{sup +} J = 4–3 down to the dusty disk. Complex organic molecules (COMs) and doubly deuterated formaldehyde (D{sub 2}CO) are detected above and below the dusty disk within ∼40 au of the central protostar. The COMs are methanol (CH{sub 3}OH), deuterated methanol (CH{sub 2}DOH), methyl mercaptan (CH{sub 3}SH), and formamide (NH{sub 2}CHO, a prebiotic precursor). We have modeled the gas kinematics in HCO{sup +} and COMs and found a centrifugal barrier (CB) at a radius of ∼44 au, within which a Keplerian rotating disk is formed. This indicates that HCO{sup +} traces the infalling-rotating envelope down to the CB and COMs trace the atmosphere of a Keplerian rotating disk within the CB. The COMs are spatially resolved for the first time, both radially and vertically, in the atmosphere of a disk in the earliest, Class 0 phase of star formation. Our spatially resolved observations of COMs favor their formation in the disk rather than a rapidly infalling (warm) inner envelope. The abundances and spatial distributions of the COMs provide strong constraints on models of their formation and transport in low-mass star formation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2017

A Massive Prestellar Clump Hosting No High-mass Cores

The infrared dark cloud (IRDC) G028.23-00.19 hosts a massive (1500 M {sub ⊙}), cold (12 K), and 3.6–70 μ m IR dark clump (MM1) that has the potential to form high-mass stars. We observed this prestellar clump candidate with the Submillimeter Array (∼3.″5 resolution) and Jansky Very Large Array (∼2.″1 resolution) in order to characterize the early stages of high-mass star formation and to constrain theoretical models. Dust emission at 1.3 mm wavelength reveals five cores with masses ≤15 M {sub ⊙}. None of the cores currently have the mass reservoir to form a high-mass star in the prestellar phase. If the MM1 clump will ultimately form high-mass stars, its embedded cores must gather a significant amount of additional mass over time. No molecular outflows are detected in the CO (2-1) and SiO (5-4) transitions, suggesting that the SMA cores are starless. By using the NH{sub 3} (1, 1) line, the velocity dispersion of the gas is determined to be transonic or mildly supersonic (Δ V {sub nt}/Δ V {sub th} ∼ 1.1–1.8). The cores are not highly supersonic as some theories of high-mass star formation predict. The embedded cores are four to seven times more massive than the clump thermal Jeans mass and the most massive core (SMA1) is nine times less massive than the clump turbulent Jeans mass. These values indicate that neither thermal pressure nor turbulent pressure dominates the fragmentation of MM1. The low virial parameters of the cores (0.1–0.5) suggest that they are not in virial equilibrium, unless strong magnetic fields of ∼1–2 mG are present. We discuss high-mass star formation scenarios in a context based on IRDC G028.23-00.19, a study case believed to represent the initial fragmentation of molecular clouds that will form high-mass stars.

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DOE OSTI2017

The Molecular Gas Environment in the 20 km s{sup −1} Cloud in the Central Molecular Zone

We recently reported a population of protostellar candidates in the 20 km s{sup −1} cloud in the Central Molecular Zone of the Milky Way, traced by H{sub 2}O masers in gravitationally bound dense cores. In this paper, we report molecular line studies with high angular resolution (∼3″) of the environment of star formation in this cloud. Maps of various molecular line transitions as well as the continuum at 1.3 mm are obtained using the Submillimeter Array. Five NH{sub 3} inversion lines and the 1.3 cm continuum are observed with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array. The interferometric observations are complemented with single-dish data. We find that the CH{sub 3}OH, SO, and HNCO lines, which are usually shock tracers, are better correlated spatially with the compact dust emission from dense cores among the detected lines. These lines also show enhancement in intensities with respect to SiO intensities toward the compact dust emission, suggesting the presence of slow shocks or hot cores in these regions. We find gas temperatures of ≳100 K at 0.1 pc scales based on RADEX modeling of the H{sub 2}CO and NH{sub 3} lines. Although no strong correlations between temperatures and linewidths/H{sub 2}O maser luminosities are found, in high-angular-resolution maps we note several candidate shock-heated regions offset from any dense cores, as well as signatures of localized heating by protostars in several dense cores. Our findings suggest that at 0.1 pc scales in this cloud star formation and strong turbulence may together affect the chemistry and temperature of the molecular gas.

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DOE OSTI2017

Magnetic Fields in the Massive Dense Cores of the DR21 Filament: Weakly Magnetized Cores in a Strongly Magnetized Filament

We present Submillimeter Array 880 μ m dust polarization observations of six massive dense cores in the DR21 filament. The dust polarization shows complex magnetic field structures in the massive dense cores with sizes of 0.1 pc, in contrast to the ordered magnetic fields of the parsec-scale filament. The major axes of the massive dense cores appear to be aligned either parallel or perpendicular to the magnetic fields of the filament, indicating that the parsec-scale magnetic fields play an important role in the formation of the massive dense cores. However, the correlation between the major axes of the cores and the magnetic fields of the cores is less significant, suggesting that during the core formation, the magnetic fields below 0.1 pc scales become less important than the magnetic fields above 0.1 pc scales in supporting a core against gravity. Our analysis of the angular dispersion functions of the observed polarization segments yields a plane-of-sky magnetic field strength of 0.4–1.7 mG for the massive dense cores. We estimate the kinematic, magnetic, and gravitational virial parameters of the filament and the cores. The virial parameters show that the gravitational energy in the filament dominates magnetic and kinematic energies, while the kinematic energy dominates in the cores. Our work suggests that although magnetic fields may play an important role in a collapsing filament, the kinematics arising from gravitational collapse must become more important than magnetic fields during the evolution from filaments to massive dense cores.

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DOE OSTI2017

Angular Momentum in Disk Wind Revealed in the Young Star MWC 349A

Disk winds are thought to play a critical role in star birth. As winds extract excess angular momentum from accretion disks, matter in the disk can be transported inward to the star to fuel mass growth. However, observational evidence of wind carrying angular momentum has been very limited. We present Submillimeter Array (SMA) observations of the young star MWC 349A in the H26 α and H30 α recombination lines. The high signal-to-noise ratios made possible by the maser emission process allow us to constrain the relative astrometry of the maser spots to milli-arcsecond precision. Previous observations of the H30 α line with the SMA and the Plateau de Bure interferometer (PdBI) showed that masers are distributed in the disk and wind. Our new high-resolution observations of the H26 α line reveal differences in spatial distribution from that of the H30 α line. H26 α line masers in the disk are excited in a thin annulus with a radius of about 25 au, while the H30 α line masers are formed in a slightly larger annulus with a radius of 30 au. This is consistent with expectations for maser excitation in the presence of an electron density variation of approximately R {sup −4}. In addition, the H30 α and H26 α line masers arise from different parts in the wind. This difference is also expected from maser theory. The wind component of both masers exhibits line-of-sight velocities that closely follow a Keplerian law. This result provides strong evidence that the disk wind extracts significant angular momentum, thereby facilitating mass accretion in the young star.

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DOE OSTI2017

Growth of a Massive Young Stellar Object Fed by a Gas Flow from a Companion Gas Clump

We present a Submillimeter Array (SMA) observation toward the young massive double-core system G350.69-0.49. This system consists of a northeast (NE) diffuse gas bubble and a southwest (SW) massive young stellar object (MYSO), both clearly seen in the Spitzer images. The SMA observations reveal a gas flow between the NE bubble and the SW MYSO in a broad velocity range from 5 to 30 km s{sup −1} with respect to the system velocity. The gas flow is well confined within the interval between the two objects and traces a significant mass transfer from the NE gas bubble to the SW massive core. The transfer flow can supply the material accreted onto the SW MYSO at a rate of 4.2×10{sup −4} M{sub ⊙} yr{sup −1}. The whole system therefore suggests a mode for the mass growth in the MYSO from a gas transfer flow launched from its companion gas clump, despite the driving mechanism of the transfer flow not being fully determined from the current data.

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DOE OSTI2016

Dense core properties in the infrared dark cloud G14.225-0.506 revealed by ALMA

We have performed a dense core survey toward the Infrared Dark Cloud G14.225-0.506 at 3 mm continuum emission with the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA). This survey covers the two hub-filament systems with an angular resolution of ∼3{sup ′′} (∼0.03 pc). We identified 48 dense cores. 20 out of the 48 cores are protostellar due to their association with young stellar objects (YSOs) and/or X-ray point-sources, while the other 28 cores are likely prestellar and unrelated with known IR or X-ray emission. Using APEX 870 μm continuum emission, we also identified the 18 clumps hosting these cores. Through virial analysis using the ALMA N{sub 2}H{sup +} and VLA/Effelsberg NH{sub 3} molecular line data, we found a decreasing trend in the virial parameter with decreasing scales from filaments to clumps, and then to cores. The virial parameters of 0.1–1.3 in cores indicate that cores are likely undergoing dynamical collapse. The cumulative core mass function for the prestellar core candidates has a power law index of α=1.6, with masses ranging from 1.5 to 22 M{sub ⊙}. We find no massive prestellar or protostellar cores. Previous studies suggest that massive O-type stars have not been produced yet in this region. Therefore, high-mass stars should be formed in the prestellar cores by accreting a significant amount of gas from the surrounding medium. Another possibility is that low-mass YSOs become massive by accreting from their parent cores that are fed by filaments. These two possibilities might be consistent with the scenario of global hierarchical collapse.

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DOE OSTI2016

MAGNETICALLY DOMINATED PARALLEL INTERSTELLAR FILAMENTS IN THE INFRARED DARK CLOUD G14.225-0.506

The infrared dark cloud G14.225-0.506 (IRDC G14.2) displays a remarkable complex of parallel dense molecular filaments projected on the plane of the sky. Previous studies of dust emission and molecular lines have speculated whether magnetic fields could have played an important role in the formation of such elongated structures, which are hosts to numerous young stellar sources. In this work we have conducted a vast polarimetric survey at optical and near-infrared wavelengths in order to study the morphology of magnetic field lines in IRDC G14.2 through the observation of background stars. The orientation of interstellar polarization, which traces magnetic field lines, is perpendicular to most of the filamentary features within the cloud. Additionally, the larger-scale molecular cloud as a whole exhibits an elongated shape also perpendicular to magnetic fields. Estimates of magnetic field strengths indicate values in the range 320–550 μ G, which allow sub-alfvénic conditions, but do not prevent the gravitational collapse of hub–filament structures, which in general are close to the critical state. These characteristics suggest that magnetic fields played the main role in regulating the collapse from large to small scales, leading to the formation of series of parallel elongated structures. The morphology is also consistent with numerical simulations that show how gravitational instabilities develop when subjected to strong magnetic fields. Finally, the results corroborate the hypothesis that strong support from internal magnetic fields might explain why the cloud seems to be contracting on a timescale 2–3 times longer than what is expected from a free-fall collapse.

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DOE OSTI2016

Star formation laws in both galactic massive clumps and external galaxies: extensive study with dust coninuum, HCN (4-3), and CS (7-6)

We observed 146 Galactic clumps in HCN (4-3) and CS (7-6) with the Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment 10 m telescope. A tight linear relationship between star formation rate and gas mass traced by dust continuum emission was found for both Galactic clumps and the high redshift (z > 1) star forming galaxies (SFGs), indicating a constant gas depletion time of ∼100 Myr for molecular gas in both Galactic clumps and high z SFGs. However, low z galaxies do not follow this relation and seem to have a longer global gas depletion time. The correlations between total infrared luminosities (L {sub TIR}) and molecular line luminosities (L{sub mol}{sup ′}) of HCN (4-3) and CS (7-6) are tight and sublinear extending down to clumps with L {sub TIR} ∼ 10{sup 3} L {sub ☉}. These correlations become linear when extended to external galaxies. A bimodal behavior in the L {sub TIR}–L{sub mol}{sup ′} correlations was found for clumps with different dust temperature, luminosity-to-mass ratio, and σ {sub line}/σ {sub vir}. Such bimodal behavior may be due to evolutionary effects. The slopes of L {sub TIR}–L′{sub mol} correlations become more shallow as clumps evolve. We compared our results with lower J transition lines in Wu et al. (2010). The correlations between clump masses and line luminosities are close to linear for low effective excitation density tracers but become sublinear for high effective excitation density tracers for clumps with L {sub TIR} larger than L {sub TIR} ∼ 10{sup 4.5} L {sub ☉}. High effective excitation density tracers cannot linearly trace the total clump masses, leading to a sublinear correlations for both M {sub clump}–L′{sub mol} and L {sub TIR}–L′{sub mol} relations.

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DOE OSTI2016

Outflow detection in a 70 μm dark high-mass core

We present observations toward a high-mass (>40 M{sub ⊙}), low-luminosity (<10 L{sub ⊙}) 70 μm dark molecular core G28.34 S-A at 3.4 mm, using the IRAM 30 m telescope and the NOEMA interferometer. We report the detection of SiO J=2→1 line emission, which is spatially resolved in this source at a linear resolution of ∼0.1 pc, while the 3.4 mm continuum image does not resolve any internal sub-structures. The SiO emission exhibits two W–E oriented lobes centering on the continuum peak. Corresponding to the redshifted and blueshifted gas with velocities up to 40 km s{sup −1} relative to the quiescent cloud, these lobes clearly indicate the presence of a strong bipolar outflow from this 70 μm dark core, a source previously considered as one of the best candidates of “starless” core. Our SiO detection is consistent with ALMA archival data of SiO J=5→4, whose high-velocity blueshifted gas reveals a more compact lobe spatially closer to the dust center. This outflow indicates that the central source may be in an early evolutionary stage of forming a high-mass protostar. We also find that the low-velocity components (in the range of Vlsr{sub −5}{sup +3} km s{sup −1}) have an extended, NW–SE oriented distribution. Discussing the possible accretion scenarios of the outflow-powering young stellar object, we argue that molecular line emission and the molecular outflows may provide a better indication of the accretion history of the forming young stellar object, than snapshot observations of the present bolometric luminosity. This is particularly significant for cases of episodic accretion, which may occur during the collapse of the parent molecular core.

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DOE OSTI2016

ROTATING BULLETS FROM A VARIABLE PROTOSTAR

We present Submillimeter Array (SMA) CO (2–1) observations toward the protostellar jet driven by SVS 13 A, a variable protostar in the NGC 1333 star-forming region. The SMA CO (2–1) images show an extremely high-velocity jet composed of a series of molecular “bullets.” Based on the SMA CO observations, we discover clear and large systematic velocity gradients, perpendicular to the jet axis, in the blueshifted and redshifted bullets. After discussing several alternative interpretations, such as twin-jets, jet precession, warped disk, and internal helical shock, we suggest that the systematic velocity gradients observed in the bullets result from the rotation of the SVS 13 A jet. From the SMA CO images, the measured rotation velocities are 11.7–13.7 km s{sup −1} for the blueshifted bullet and 4.7 ± 0.5 km s{sup −1} for the redshifted bullet. The estimated specific angular momenta of the two bullets are comparable to those of dense cores, about 10 times larger than those of protostellar envelopes, and about 20 times larger than those of circumstellar disks. If the velocity gradients are due to the rotation of the SVS 13 A jet, the significant amount of specific angular momenta of the bullets indicates that the rotation of jets/outflows is a key mechanism to resolve the so-called “angular momentum problem” in the field of star formation. The kinematics of the bullets suggests that the jet launching footprint on the disk has a radius of ∼7.2–7.7 au, which appears to support the extended disk-wind model. We note that further observations are needed to comprehensively understand the kinematics of the SVS 13 A jet, in order to confirm the rotation nature of the bullets.

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DOE OSTI2016

DISCOVERY OF AN EXTREMELY WIDE-ANGLE BIPOLAR OUTFLOW IN AFGL 5142

Most bipolar outflows are associated with individual young stellar objects and have small opening angles. Here we report the discovery of an extremely wide-angle (∼180°) bipolar outflow (“EWBO”) in a cluster forming region AFGL 5142 from low-velocity emission of the HCN (3–2) and HCO{sup +} (3–2) lines. This bipolar outflow is along a north-west to south-east direction with a line of sight flow velocity of about 3 km s{sup −1} and is spatially connected to the high-velocity jet-like outflows. It seems to be a collection of low-velocity material entrained by the high-velocity outflows due to momentum feedback. The total ejected mass and mass loss rate due to both high-velocity jet-like outflows and the “EWBO” are ∼24.5 M {sub ⊙} and ∼1.7 × 10{sup −3} M {sub ⊙} yr{sup −1}, respectively. Global collapse of the clump is revealed by the “blue profile” in the HCO{sup +} (1–0) line. A hierarchical network of filaments was identified in NH{sub 3} (1, 1) emission. Clear velocity gradients of the order of 10 km s{sup −1} pc{sup −1} are found along filaments, indicating gas inflow along the filaments. The sum of the accretion rate along filaments and mass infall rate along the line of sight is ∼3.1 × 10{sup −3} M {sub ⊙} yr{sup −1}, which exceeds the total mass loss rate, indicating that the central cluster is probably still gaining mass. The central cluster is highly fragmented and 22 condensations are identified in 1.1 mm continuum emission. The fragmentation process seems to be determined by thermal pressure and turbulence. The magnetic field may not play an important role in fragmentation.

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DOE OSTI2016

A HOT AND MASSIVE ACCRETION DISK AROUND THE HIGH-MASS PROTOSTAR IRAS 20126+4104

We present new spectral line observations of the CH{sub 3}CN molecule in the accretion disk around the massive protostar IRAS 20126+4104 with the Submillimeter Array, which, for the first time, measure the disk density, temperature, and rotational velocity with sufficient resolution (0.″37, equivalent to ∼600 au) to assess the gravitational stability of the disk through the Toomre- Q parameter. Our observations resolve the central 2000 au region that shows steeper velocity gradients with increasing upper state energy, indicating an increase in the rotational velocity of the hotter gas nearer the star. Such spin-up motions are characteristics of an accretion flow in a rotationally supported disk. We compare the observed data with synthetic image cubes produced by three-dimensional radiative transfer models describing a thin flared disk in Keplerian motion enveloped within the centrifugal radius of an angular-momentum-conserving accretion flow. Given a luminosity of 1.3 × 10{sup 4} L {sub ⊙}, the optimized model gives a disk mass of 1.5 M {sub ⊙} and a radius of 858 au rotating about a 12.0 M {sub ⊙} protostar with a disk mass accretion rate of 3.9 × 10{sup −5} M {sub ⊙} yr{sup −1}. Our study finds that, in contrast to some theoretical expectations, the disk is hot and stable to fragmentation with Q > 2.8 at all radii which permits a smooth accretion flow. These results put forward the first constraints on gravitational instabilities in massive protostellar disks, which are closely connected to the formation of companion stars and planetary systems by fragmentation.

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