[en] Cross sections for the quenching of N(2²P) by a variety of simple organic and inorganic compounds have been determined by using a pulse radiolysis-optical absorption technique. It was found that N(2²P) is less reactive than N(2²D) in every case, despite its higher energy. The quenching cross sections for unsaturated hydrocarbons were found to be about one tenth of that for gas kinetic collisions, while those for saturated hydrocarbons and most inorganic substances were much smaller. The quenching cross sections for alkane hydrocarbons increase with the number of C-H bonds, and show a minor dependence on C-H bond strengths. (author)

[en] The 6.7 GHz methanol maser emission, a tracer of forming massive stars, sometimes shows enigmatic periodic flux variations over several 10-100 days. In this Letter, we propose that these periodic variations could be explained by the pulsation of massive protostars growing under rapid mass accretion with rates of M-dot_*∼>10^-3 M_☉ yr^-1. Our stellar evolution calculations predict that the massive protostars have very large radii exceeding 100 R_☉ at maximum, and here we study the pulsational stability of such bloated protostars by way of the linear stability analysis. We show that the protostar becomes pulsationally unstable with various periods of several 10-100 days depending on different accretion rates. With the fact that the stellar luminosity when the star is pulsationally unstable also depends on the accretion rate, we derive the period-luminosity relation log (L/ L_☉) = 4.62 + 0.98log (P/100 days), which is testable with future observations. Our models further show that the radius and mass of the pulsating massive protostar should also depend on the period. It would be possible to infer such protostellar properties and the accretion rate with the observed period. Measuring the maser periods enables a direct diagnosis of the structure of accreting massive protostars, which are deeply embedded in dense gas and are inaccessible with other observations.

[en] We report results of $0\stackrel{\mathrm{\prime <!--\; ???\; -->}\mathrm{\prime <!--\; ???\; -->}}{.}05$-resolution observations toward the O-type proto-binary system IRAS 16547–4247 with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. We present dynamical and chemical structures of the circumbinary disk, circumstellar disks, outflows, and jets, illustrated by multi-wavelength continuum and various molecular lines. In particular, we detect sodium chloride, silicon compounds, and vibrationally excited water lines as probes of the individual protostellar disks at a scale of 100 au. These are complementary to typical hot-core molecules tracing the circumbinary structures on a 1000 au scale. The H₂O line tracing inner disks has an upper-state energy of $E_u/k><!--\; >\; -->3000\mathrm{K}$, indicating a high temperature of the disks. On the other hand, despite the detected transitions of NaCl, SiO, and SiS not necessarily having high upper-state energies, they are enhanced only in the vicinity of the protostars. We posit that these molecules are the products of dust destruction, which only happens in the inner disks. This is the second detection of alkali metal halide in protostellar systems after the case of the disk of Orion Source I, and also one of few massive protostellar disks associated with high-energy transition water and silicon compounds. These new results suggest that these “hot-disk” lines may be common in innermost disks around massive protostars, and have great potential for future research of massive star formation. We also tentatively find that the twin disks are counter-rotating, which might give a hint of the origin of the massive proto-binary system IRAS 16547–4247.

[en] We have carried out the first very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) imaging of a 44 GHz class I methanol maser (7₀-6₁ A ⁺) associated with a millimeter core MM2 in a massive star-forming region IRAS 18151–1208 with KaVA (KVN and VERA Array), which is a newly combined array of KVN (Korean VLBI Network) and VERA (VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry). We have succeeded in imaging compact maser features with a synthesized beam size of 2.7 milliarcseconds × 1.5 milliarcseconds (mas). These features are detected at a limited number of baselines within the length of shorter than ≈ 650 km corresponding to 100 Mλ in the uv-coverage. The central velocity and the velocity width of the 44 GHz methanol maser are consistent with those of the quiescent gas rather than the outflow traced by the SiO thermal line. The minimum component size among the maser features is ∼5 mas × 2 mas, which corresponds to the linear size of ∼15 AU × 6 AU assuming a distance of 3 kpc. The brightness temperatures of these features range from ∼3.5 × 10⁸ to 1.0 × 10¹⁰ K, which are higher than the estimated lower limit from a previous Very Large Array observation with the highest spatial resolution of ∼50 mas. The 44 GHz class I methanol maser in IRAS 18151–1208 is found to be associated with the MM2 core, which is thought to be less evolved than another millimeter core MM1 associated with the 6.7 GHz class II methanol maser

[en] We report on interferometric observations of a face-on accretion system around the high-mass young stellar object, G353.273+0.641. The innermost accretion system of 100 au radius was resolved in a 45 GHz continuum image taken with the Jansky-Very Large Array. Our spectral energy distribution analysis indicated that the continuum could be explained by optically thick dust emission. The total mass of the dusty system is ∼0.2 M _☉ at minimum and up to a few M _☉ depending on the dust parameters. 6.7 GHz CH₃OH masers associated with the same system were also observed with the Australia Telescope Compact Array. The masers showed a spiral-like, non-axisymmetric distribution with a systematic velocity gradient. The line-of-sight velocity field is explained by an infall motion along a parabolic streamline that falls onto the equatorial plane of the face-on system. The streamline is quasi-radial and reaches the equatorial plane at a radius of 16 au. This is clearly smaller than that of typical accretion disks in high-mass star formation, indicating that the initial angular momentum was very small, or the CH₃OH masers selectively trace accreting material that has small angular momentum. In the former case, the initial specific angular momentum is estimated to be 8 × 10²⁰ ($M_{\ast <!--\; ???\; -->}/10$ M _☉)${}^{0.5}$ cm² s⁻¹, or a significant fraction of the initial angular momentum was removed outside of 100 au. The physical origin of such a streamline is still an open question and will be constrained by the higher-resolution (∼10 mas) thermal continuum and line observations with ALMA long baselines.

[en] We present results of continuum and spectral line observations with Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and 22 GHz water (H₂O) maser observations using the KVN (Korean VLBI Network) and VERA (VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry) array (KaVA) toward a high-mass star-forming region, G25.82–0.17. Multiple 1.3 mm continuum sources are revealed, indicating the presence of young stellar objects (YSOs) at different evolutionary stages, namely an ultracompact H ii region, G25.82–E, a high-mass young stellar object (HM-YSO), G25.82–W1, and starless cores, G25.82–W2 and G25.82–W3. Two SiO outflows, at N–S and SE–NW orientations, are identified. The CH₃OH 8₋₁–7₀ E line, known to be a Class I CH₃OH maser at 229 GHz, is also detected, showing a mixture of thermal and maser emission. Moreover, the H₂O masers are distributed in a region ∼0.″25 shifted from G25.82–W1. The CH₃OH 22₄–21₅ E line shows a compact ringlike structure at the position of G25.82–W1 with a velocity gradient, indicating a rotating disk or envelope. Assuming Keplerian rotation, the dynamical mass of G25.82–W1 is estimated to be >25 M _⊙ and the total mass of 20–84 M _⊙ is derived from the 1.3 mm continuum emission. The driving source of the N–S SiO outflow is G25.82–W1 while that of the SE–NW SiO outflow is uncertain. Detection of multiple high-mass starless/protostellar cores and candidates without low-mass cores implies that HM-YSOs could form in individual high-mass cores as predicted by the turbulent core accretion model. If this is the case, the high-mass star formation process in G25.82 would be consistent with a scaled-up version of low-mass star formation.

[en] We report the first detection of isotopic methanol (¹³CH₃OH) maser emission in interstellar space. The emission was detected toward the high-mass young stellar object G358.93-0.03 during monitoring of a flare in the 6.7 GHz methanol (CH₃OH) maser emission in this source. We find that the spectral and spatial distribution of the ¹³CH₃OH masers differs from the CH₃OH masers imaged at the same epoch, contrary to expectations from similarity of their pumping. This conclusively demonstrates that isotopic methanol masers are bright under different physical conditions and suggests that they can provide additional, complementary information to the CH₃OH masers from the same source. We detect a rapid decay of the ¹³CH₃OH maser lines suggesting that they are transient phenomena (masing for only a few months), likely associated with rapid changes in radiation field due to an accretion burst induced by massive disk fragmentation. Changes in the line flux density are faster than required to achieve equilibrium in the energy level populations, indicating that the pumping of these masers is likely variable.