IRAS 16293-2422: A Very Young Binary System?

Very high spatial resolution millimeter and centimeter wavelength observations of a proposed proto-binary system in the nearby (160 pc) Ophiuchus molecular complex are presented. Flux measurements from 18 cm to 25 microns show that the majority of the millimeter wavelength emission arises from dust within 300 AU of the individual central objects. The total dynamical mass of 1.1-1.3 solar mass, coupled with the present mass estimates for the sources MM 1 and MM 2, suggest that the mass in circumstellar material is comparable to that of the central stellar cores. Since the stellar masses are constrained to be not more than 0.5 solar mass each, it is likely that the bolometric luminosity of 30-40 solar luminosities is derived mainly from accretion of the observed circumstellar material. It is proposed that the SO emission detected toward MM 1 is a result of the outflow activity associated with this source and that the outlying emission clumps trace regions of mild interaction between the outflow and the ambient cloud.