High-resolution near-infrared study of the deeply embedded young stellar object S140 IRS 3

Thomas Preibisch Y. Balega, D. Schertl, M.D. Smith, G. Weigelt

Astronomy & Astrophysics, 378, 539 (2001)

Abstract

We explore the structures immediately surrounding the high-mass young stellar object S140 IRS 3 within the L1204 molecular cloud. We have obtained a bispectrum speckle interferometric K-band image with a resolution of 150 mas and a seeing-limited molecular hydrogen line emission image of IRS 3. Our speckle image resolves IRS 3 into three point sources, a close binary with separation 0.63'' and a third component 1.3'' away. A rough assessment of the system stability suggests that the IRS 3 triple system is unstable. Our speckle image also reveals extended diffuse emission of very complex morphology around IRS 3.

An extended diffuse feature north-east of IRS 3 displays a remarkable S-shaped structure. This feature is the innermost part of an at least 15'' long extended structure, which is pointing towards a bow-shock like patch located 90'' away from IRS 3. We find strong H_2 line emission associated with this feature, suggesting the presence of shocks, caused by the collision of outflowing material with the ambient medium. The S-shaped structure of this feature can be well reproduced by a model assuming a precessing outflow from IRS 3a.

Furthermore, we find several elongated features pointing away from IRS 3 in a southern direction. Some of these features also exhibit strong H_2 line emission, demonstrating that IRS 3 drives outflows in several directions.


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