Discovery of warm and dense molecular gas surrounding the ring nebula G79.29+0.46

TL;DR

This study detects warm, dense molecular gas around the ring nebula G79.29+0.46, revealing interactions between evolved massive stars and their environment, and identifying a high-density clump possibly formed by stellar eruptions.

Contribution

First detection of mid-J CO line emission in the outskirts of an evolved massive star, linking molecular gas features to stellar wind effects and eruptions.

Findings

Detection of extended CO and 13CO emission around G79.29+0.46

Identification of a high-density, high-temperature molecular clump

Evidence of shockfronts indicating past stellar eruptions

Abstract

We present for the first time the detection of mid-J CO line emission in the outskirts of an evolved massive star, which indicates the presence of warm and/or high density molecular gas. Aiming to learn about the interplay between evolved massive stars and their surroundings, we have carried out CO J=2-1, J=3-2, and (13)CO J=2-1 line observations in a 4'x4' field around the ring nebula G79.29+0.46, which is illuminated by a strong candidate to LBV star. The whole field shows extended predominant emission in both CO and (13)CO J=2-1 lines, which probably comes from the large cloud which contains the star forming region DR15. When this large-scale emission is removed, minor scales features become evident, particularly in the CO J=3-2 line, strikingly coincident with the ring nebula. The high critical density of CO J=3-2 (some 10^4 cm^(-3)) gives additional support for the association with the massive star, since high density molecular gas has more chances to survive in such a harsh environment. This structure may have been produced by the cumulative effect of a strong steady wind in the LBV stage or earlier, which has compressed the surviving parent molecular cloud. In addition, immersed within this CO feature, we have also discovered a higher density clump (at least several 10^5 cm^(-3)), unresolved by the telescope and probably having a higher kinetic temperature. Towards the clump, the presence of a jump of 14-16 km/s in the gas velocity may indicate the existence of a shockfront. This clump may have been created by at least one mass eruption, 10^3 - 10^4 yr ago. Thus, this work shows that not all the molecular gas is destroyed during massive star evolution, and consequently we are dealing with a new laboratory where one can learn about the mass-loss phenomena associated to the brief LBV stage.