TY - JOUR
T1 - Molecular line emission from 1000 au scale outflows to <30 au compact structures in NGC1333 IRAS4A2
AU - Guerra-Alvarado, O. M.
AU - Van Der Marel, N.
AU - Nazari, P.
AU - Di Francesco, J.
AU - Tychoniec,
AU - Looney, L. W.
AU - Cox, E. G.
AU - Wilner, D. J.
AU - Hogerheijde, M. R.
N1 - We thank J. Alejandro Lepez-Vezquez, Annalle Maury, and Marta de Simone for their helpful discussions and insights. We acknowledge assistance from Allegro, the European ALMA Regional Centre node in the Netherlands. This paper makes use of the following ALMA data: ADS/JAO.ALMA#2018.1.00510.S. ALMA is a partnership of ESO (representing its member states), NSF (USA), and NINS (Japan), together with NRC (Canada), MOST and ASIAA (Taiwan), and KASI (Republic of Korea), in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. The Joint ALMA Observatory is operated by ESO, AUI/NRAO and NAOJ. P.N. acknowledges support from the ESO and IAU Gruber Foundation Fellowships.
PY - 2025/11/1
Y1 - 2025/11/1
N2 - Aims. Studying protostellar objects in their earliest stages, particularly during the Class 0 phase, provides key insight into the beginnings of planet formation and dust evolution. Disentangling the various components, such as the envelope, outflow, and nascent disk, to characterize and understand these young systems, however, is particularly challenging. High spatial and spectral resolution observations of molecular line emission with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) are therefore crucial for probing their complex environments. Methods. We present high-resolution (30 au) ALMA observations at 1.3 mm of the Class 0 protostellar system IRAS4A2. We analyzed the gas emission surrounding this young source, tracing it from the extended outflow to the most compact inner region and identifying emission lines using the spectral analysis tool CASSIS. Results. We detect large, well-traced outflows in HCN (3 2), H2CO (212 111), and HCO+ (3 2), along with numerous complex organic molecules (COMs) such as C2H3CN, CH2(OH)CHO, CH3OCHO, and CH3C15N that trace central, more compact regions. These molecules span upper-energy levels (Eu) ranging from 20 to 487 K and have excitation temperatures between 100 and 300 K. Using moment maps, we analyzed the kinematics and spatial distributions of the molecular emission, revealing a wide range of spatial scales, from compact structures within the IRAS4A2 core at 8 au in radius, to extended 5000 au outflow emission. Specifically, we find that CH3CDO and CH3OCHO could both be good tracers of the disk, possibly tracing its rotation. Lines of OCS (22 21), SO2 (133 11 132 12), HCN, H2CO, and HCO+, which have lower upper-level energies, show more extended structures around IRAS4A2, likely tracing the envelope, disk, accretion shocks, the base of an outflow, and the outflow itself. Some of these molecular lines exhibit signatures consistent with Keplerian rotation, indicating a central protostellar mass of approximately 0.2. Conclusions. Most COMs appear to trace distinct inner regions near the central protostar, while other molecules like OCS, SO2, HCN, and H2CO trace more extended structures, such as the envelope or outflows. The kinematics, emission patterns, and position-velocity diagrams suggest that individual molecules trace multiple components simultaneously, making it challenging to disentangle their true origins. Altogether, these findings highlight the complex spatial distribution within the IRAS4A2 system.
AB - Aims. Studying protostellar objects in their earliest stages, particularly during the Class 0 phase, provides key insight into the beginnings of planet formation and dust evolution. Disentangling the various components, such as the envelope, outflow, and nascent disk, to characterize and understand these young systems, however, is particularly challenging. High spatial and spectral resolution observations of molecular line emission with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) are therefore crucial for probing their complex environments. Methods. We present high-resolution (30 au) ALMA observations at 1.3 mm of the Class 0 protostellar system IRAS4A2. We analyzed the gas emission surrounding this young source, tracing it from the extended outflow to the most compact inner region and identifying emission lines using the spectral analysis tool CASSIS. Results. We detect large, well-traced outflows in HCN (3 2), H2CO (212 111), and HCO+ (3 2), along with numerous complex organic molecules (COMs) such as C2H3CN, CH2(OH)CHO, CH3OCHO, and CH3C15N that trace central, more compact regions. These molecules span upper-energy levels (Eu) ranging from 20 to 487 K and have excitation temperatures between 100 and 300 K. Using moment maps, we analyzed the kinematics and spatial distributions of the molecular emission, revealing a wide range of spatial scales, from compact structures within the IRAS4A2 core at 8 au in radius, to extended 5000 au outflow emission. Specifically, we find that CH3CDO and CH3OCHO could both be good tracers of the disk, possibly tracing its rotation. Lines of OCS (22 21), SO2 (133 11 132 12), HCN, H2CO, and HCO+, which have lower upper-level energies, show more extended structures around IRAS4A2, likely tracing the envelope, disk, accretion shocks, the base of an outflow, and the outflow itself. Some of these molecular lines exhibit signatures consistent with Keplerian rotation, indicating a central protostellar mass of approximately 0.2. Conclusions. Most COMs appear to trace distinct inner regions near the central protostar, while other molecules like OCS, SO2, HCN, and H2CO trace more extended structures, such as the envelope or outflows. The kinematics, emission patterns, and position-velocity diagrams suggest that individual molecules trace multiple components simultaneously, making it challenging to disentangle their true origins. Altogether, these findings highlight the complex spatial distribution within the IRAS4A2 system.
KW - Protoplanetary disks
KW - Radio lines: planetary systems
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105022939437
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105022939437#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1051/0004-6361/202555978
DO - 10.1051/0004-6361/202555978
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105022939437
SN - 0004-6361
VL - 703
JO - Astronomy and Astrophysics
JF - Astronomy and Astrophysics
M1 - A280
ER -