Astron. Astrophys. 345, L43-L46 (1999)

5. Conclusions

Our cm observations of I20126 show a double continuum source with both components elongated in the direction of the large scale molecular outflow. The northern source is coincident with an unresolved 7 mm peak due to dust continuum emission, as well as CH₃CN emission oriented perpendicular to the cm continuum. H₂O masers are coincident with the northern continuum source, whereas none of the above tracer is present at the position of the southern source. We suggest that these observations can be explained by a double ionized jet with both jets possibly contributing to driving the large scale outflow observed in HCO⁺, similar to what is found for the flow in L1551 IRS5 (Rodríguez et al. 1999).

If this interpretation is correct, our observations raise several interesting questions about the disk/jet system in I20126. First, what is the mechanism which has aligned the two jets? Second, in contrast to the northern jet, there is no evidence for any disk at the position of the southern jet. This raises the question of how the southern jet is collimated.

To summarize, IRAS 20126+4104 is one the most promising sources for the study of disks and collimated flows from high mass systems and we expect that further high resolution and sensitivity observations of this system will allow us to learn much about the role of disk/jets in the formation of high mass stars.

© European Southern Observatory (ESO) 1999

Online publication: April 28, 1999
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