Laurent Loinard

A ROTATING MOLECULAR JET FROM A PERSEUS PROTOSTAR

We present the {sup 12}CO(2-1) line and 1.4 mm continuum archival observations, made with the Submillimeter Array, of the outflow HH 797 located in the IC 348 cluster in Perseus. The continuum emission is associated with a circumstellar disk surrounding the class 0 object IC 348-MMS/SMM2, a very young solar analog. The line emission, on the other hand, delineates a collimated outflow and reveals velocity asymmetries about the flow axis over the entire length of the flow. The amplitude of velocity differences is of the order of 2 km s{sup -1} over distances of about 1000 AU, and we interpret them as evidence for jet rotation-although we also discuss alternative possibilities. A comparison with theoretical models suggests that the magnetic field lines threading the protostellar jet might be anchored to the disk of a radius of about 20 AU.

Molecules in ? Carinae

We report the detection toward eta Carinae of six new molecules, CO, CN, HCO+, HCN, HNC, and N2H+, and of two of their less abundant isotopic counterparts, 13CO and H13CN. The line profiles are moderately broad (about 100 km /s) indicating that the emission originates in the dense, possibly clumpy, central arcsecond of the Homunculus Nebula. Contrary to previous claims, CO and HCO+ do not appear to be under-abundant in eta Carinae. On the other hand, molecules containing nitrogen or the 13C isotope of carbon are overabundant by about one order of magnitude. This demonstrates that, together with the dust responsible for the dimming of eta Carinae following the Great Eruption, the molecules detected here must have formed in situ out of CNO-processed stellar material.