APEX-CHAMP+ high-J CO observations of low-mass young stellar objects: I. The HH 46 envelope and outflow

TL;DR

This study uses high-J CO observations and radiative transfer modeling to analyze the HH 46 protostellar envelope and outflow, revealing detailed temperature, mass, and density profiles, and highlighting the impact of UV photon heating on the outflow cavity walls.

Contribution

First detailed characterization of the HH 46 envelope and outflow using high-J CO lines and radiative transfer models, emphasizing UV photon heating effects.

Findings

Outflow temperatures are ~100 K (red) and ~60 K (blue).

Derived outflow mass is 0.4-0.8 M_sol, higher than previous estimates.

High-J CO lines are narrow and cannot be explained by passive heating models.

Abstract

AIMS Our aim is to characterize the size, mass, density and temperature profiles of the protostellar envelope of HH~46 IRS 1 and its surrounding cloud material as well as the effect the outflow has on its environment.METHODS The CHAMP+ and LABOCA arrays on the APEX telescope, combined with lower frequency line receivers, are used to obtain a large continuum map and smaller heterodyne maps in various isotopologues of CO and HCO+. The high-J lines of CO (6--5 and 7--6) and its isotopologues together with [C I] 2--1, observed with CHAMP+, are used to probe the warm molecular gas in the inner few hundred AU and in the outflowing gas. The data are interpreted with continuum and line radiative transfer models. RESULTS Broad outflow wings are seen in CO low- and high-J lines at several positions, constraining the gas temperatures to a constant value of ~100 K along the red outflow axis and to ~60 K for the blue outflow. The derived outflow mass is of order 0.4--0.8 M_sol, significantly higher than previously found. The bulk of the strong high-J CO line emission has a surprisingly narrow width, however, even at outflow positions. These lines cannot be fit by a passively heated model of the HH 46 IRS envelope. We propose that it originates from photon heating of the outflow cavity walls by ultraviolet photons originating in outflow shocks and the accretion disk boundary layers. At the position of the bow shock itself, the UV photons are energetic enough to dissociate CO. The envelope mass of ~5 M_sol is strongly concentrated towards HH 46 IRS with a density power law of -1.8.