High-resolution study of the young stellar objects in Mon R2 IRS 3
Thomas Preibisch, Yuri Y. Balega, Dieter Schertl, Gerd Weigelt
Astronomy & Astrophysics, 392, 945 (2002)
Abstract
We present a bispectrum speckle interferometry study of the embedded
young stellar objects in Mon R2 IRS 3 in the near-infrared
H and K bands. Our images with a resolution of 75 mas (62 AU) show a
close triple system surrounded by strong diffuse nebulosity and three
additional infrared sources
(K magnitudes ~ 11.8 - 13.7) within 3'' of the brightest object IRS 3 A
(K ~ 7.9).
We use HST/NICMOS archive images to derive near-infrared photometry for
the
sources and estimate the stellar masses of the three brightest objects
IRS 3 A, B, and C to be in the range ~ 5 - 15 Msun. IRS 3 A is
surrounded by a bipolar nebula (position angle ~ 30 degr), suggesting
it to be embedded in a thick circumstellar disk or a torus with polar
cavities.
IRS 3 B shows a remarkable jet-like emission feature pointing
towards the north-east (position angle 50 degr). This feature consists
of at least three individual knots with projected separations of 130,
230, and 290 mas (110, 190, and 240 AU) from IRS 3 B, which are much
brighter in the K band than
in the H band. This strongly indicates outflow activity from IRS 3 B,
which
is therefore probably the source of the compact high velocity molecular
outflow
reported from Mon R2 IRS 3. We also analyze Chandra X-ray archive data
for the Mon R2 region and find
IRS 3 A and IRS 3 C to be sources of hard (3-10 keV) and variable X-ray
emission, suggesting plasma temperatures of at least 50 x 10^6 K.
The similarity of the X-ray properties to those of Class I protostars
suggests magnetic interaction between the protostars and their
circumstellar disks to be the origin of the X-ray emission; this
provides indirect evidence
for the presence of circumstellar disks in the
intermediate- to high-mass young stellar objects IRS 3 A and IRS 3 C.
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