New Near-infrared Imaging and Spectroscopy of NGC 2071-IR

We present high-resolution images of NGC 2071-IR in the J, H, and K bands and in the emission at 2.12 μm of the v = 1-0 S(1) line of molecular hydrogen. We also present moderate-resolution K-band spectra of two young stellar objects, IRS 1 and IRS 3, within NGC 2071-IR, that are candidate sources of one or more of the outflows observed in the region. Two of the eight originally identified infrared point sources in NGC 2071-IR are binaries, and we identify two new sources, one coincident with the radio source Very Large Array-1 and highly reddened. The H₂ Q(3)/S(1) line intensity ratios at IRS 1 and IRS 3 yield high and very high extinctions, respectively, to them, as is implied by their near-infrared colors and K-band continuum slopes. The spectra also reveal the presence of hot, dense circumstellar molecular gas in each, suggesting that both are strong candidates for having energetic molecular outflows. We agree with a previous suggestion that IRS 1 is the likely source of an east-west-oriented outflow and conclude that this outflow is probably largely out of the plane of the sky. We also conclude that if IRS 3 is the source of the large-scale northeast-southwest outflow, as has been previously suggested, its jet/wind must precess in order to explain the angular width of that outflow. We discuss the nature of the point sources and their possible contributions, if any, to the complex morphology of the H₂ line emission.