NGC 7538S - a High-mass Protostar with a Massive Rotating Disk
Abstract
We report the detection of a massive rotating disk around the high-mass Class 0 candidate NGC 7538 S. The disk is well-resolved with BIMA in 3.4 mm continuum and in H13CN J = 1 - 0. It is seen nearly edge on and has a size of ∼30,000 au. It drives a young, powerful outflow perpendicular to the rotating disk mapped in SiO J = 2 - 1 and HCO+ J = 1 - 0. The dynamical age of the outflow is <= 10,000 yr. Assuming that the gas is gravitationally bound, the velocity gradient seen in H13CN implies a mass of the central object of ∼ 40 Msun. The mass of the continuum ``disk'' is >= 128 Msun and has a luminosity of ∼104 Lsun. H13CN gives a mass of ∼ 370 Msun for the rotating accretion disk, and the mass of the surrounding extended 20" envelope is ∼1300 Msun.
Our observations confirm that this is an extremely massive protostar in its earliest stages - a true Class 0 high mass protostar. The BIMA array is operated by the Universities of California (Berkeley), Illinois, and Maryland with support from the National Science Foundation.- Publication:
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American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #202
- Pub Date:
- May 2003
- Bibcode:
- 2003AAS...202.5306S