K-band High-resolution Spectroscopy of Embedded High-mass Protostars
Abstract
A classical paradox in high-mass star formation is that powerful radiation pressure can halt accretion, preventing further growth of a central star. Disk accretion has been proposed to solve this problem, but the disks and the accretion process in high-mass star formation are poorly understood. We executed high-resolution (R = 35,000-70,000) iSHELL spectroscopy in K-band for 11 high-mass protostars. Br-γ emission was observed toward eight sources, and the line profiles for most of these sources are similar to those of low-mass PMS stars. Using an empirical relationship between the Br-γ and accretion luminosities, we tentatively estimate disk accretion rates ranging from ≲10-8 and ∼10-4 M⊙ yr-1. These low-mass-accretion rates suggest that high-mass protostars gain more mass via episodic accretion as proposed for low-mass protostars. Given the detection limits, CO overtone emission (v = 2-0 and 3-1), likely associated with the inner disk region (r ≪ 100 au), was found toward two sources. This low-detection rate compared with Br-γ emission is consistent with previous observations. Ten out of the 11 sources show absorption at the v = 0-2 R(7) - R(14) CO R-branch. Most of them are either blueshifted or redshifted, indicating that the absorption is associated with an outflow or an inflow with a velocity of up to ∼50 km s-1. Our analysis indicates that the absorption layer is well thermalized (and therefore ${n}_{{{\rm{H}}}_{2}}\gtrsim {10}^{6}$ cm-3) at a single temperature of typically 100-200 K, and located within 200-600 au of the star.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- May 2021
- DOI:
- 10.3847/1538-4357/abee88
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2103.07958
- Bibcode:
- 2021ApJ...912..108H
- Keywords:
-
- Star formation;
- Infrared astronomy;
- Stellar accretion disks;
- 1569;
- 786;
- 1579;
- Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
- E-Print:
- 18 page, 7 figures, accepted to ApJ