Cardiff University | Prifysgol Caerdydd ORCA
Online Research @ Cardiff 
WelshClear Cookie - decide language by browser settings

First detection of CF+towards a high-mass protostar

Fechtenbaum, S., Bontemps, S., Schneider, N., Csengeri, T., Duarte Cabral, Ana ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5259-4774, Herpin, F. and Lefloch, B. 2015. First detection of CF+towards a high-mass protostar. Astronomy & Astrophysics 574 , L4. 10.1051/0004-6361/201424718

[thumbnail of aa24718-14.pdf]
Preview
PDF - Published Version
Download (12MB) | Preview

Abstract

Aims. We report the first detection of the J = 1−0 (102.6 GHz) rotational lines of CF+ (fluoromethylidynium ion) towards CygX-N63, a young and massive protostar of the Cygnus X region. Methods. This detection occurred as part of an unbiased spectral survey of this object in the 0.8−3 mm range, performed with the IRAM 30 m telescope. The data were analyzed using a local thermodynamical equilibrium model (LTE model) and a population diagram in order to derive the column density. Results. The line velocity (–4 km s−1) and line width (1.6 km s−1) indicate an origin from the collapsing envelope of the protostar. We obtain a CF+ column density of 4 × 1011 cm−2. The CF+ion is thought to be a good tracer for C+ and assuming a ratio of 10−6 for CF+/C+, we derive a total number of C+ of 1.2×1053 within the beam. There is no evidence of carbon ionization caused by an exterior source of UV photons suggesting that the protostar itself is the source of ionization. Ionization from the protostellar photosphere is not efficient enough. In contrast, X-ray ionization from the accretion shock(s) and UV ionization from outflow shocks could provide a large enough ionizing power to explain our CF+ detection. Conclusions. Surprisingly, CF+ has been detected towards a cold, massive protostar with no sign of an external photon dissociation region (PDR), which means that the only possibility is the existence of a significant inner source of C+. This is an important result that opens interesting perspectives to study the early development of ionized regions and to approach the issue of the evolution of the inner regions of collapsing envelopes of massive protostars. The existence of high energy radiations early in the evolution of massive protostars also has important implications for chemical evolution of dense collapsing gas and could trigger peculiar chemistry and early formation of a hot core.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Published Online
Status: Published
Schools: Physics and Astronomy
Subjects: Q Science > QB Astronomy
Publisher: EDP Sciences
ISSN: 00046361
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 11 October 2017
Date of Acceptance: 6 January 2015
Last Modified: 03 May 2023 19:34
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/105401

Citation Data

Cited 5 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item Edit Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics