Orion KL: The hot core that is not a "Hot Core"

TL;DR

This study reveals that the Orion KL Hot Core is a externally heated density enhancement caused by explosive stellar activity, lacking an embedded luminous source, and shows complex filamentary structures and interactions with the explosive flow.

Contribution

It provides high-resolution molecular line and continuum observations demonstrating the Hot Core's external heating origin and complex kinematics, challenging the traditional view of it as a self-luminous hot core.

Findings

Hot Core is externally heated, not self-luminous.

Filamentary structures emerge from the explosion origin.

Explosive flow impacts the dense ridge, creating the Hot Core.

Abstract

We present sensitive high angular resolution submillimeter and millimeter observations of torsionally/vibrationally highly excited lines of the CH$_3$OH, HC$_3$N, SO$_2$, and CH$_3$CN molecules and of the continuum emission at 870 and 1300 $\mu$m from the Orion KL region, made with the Submillimeter Array (SMA). These observations plus recent SMA CO J=3-2 and J=2-1 imaging of the explosive flow originating in this region, which is related to the non-hierarchical disintegration of a massive young stellar system, suggest that the molecular Orion "Hot Core" is a pre-existing density enhancement heated from the outside by the explosive event -- unlike in other hot cores we do not find any self-luminous submillimeter, radio or infrared source embedded in the hot molecular gas. Indeed, we do not observe filamentary CO flow structures or "fingers" in the shadow of the hot core pointing away from the explosion center. The low-excitation CH$_3$CN emission shows the typical molecular heart-shaped structure, traditionally named the Hot Core, and is centered close to the dynamical origin of the explosion. The highest excitation CH$_3$CN lines are all arising from the northeast lobe of the heart-shaped structure, {\it i. e.} from the densest and most highly obscured parts of the Extended Ridge. The torsionally excited CH$_3$OH and vibrationally excited HC$_3$N lines appear to form a shell around the strongest submillimeter continuum source. Surprisingly the kinematics of the Hot Core and Compact Ridge regions as traced by CH$_3$CN and HC$_3$N also reveal filament-like structures that emerge from the dynamical origin. All of these observations suggest the southeast and southwest sectors of the explosive flow to have impinged on a pre-existing very dense part of the Extended Ridge, thus creating the bright Orion KL Hot Core.