The jet/counterjet IR symmetry of HH34 and the size of the jet formation region

TL;DR

This study uses new infrared images of HH 34 to demonstrate a symmetry between the jet and counterjet, constraining the jet formation region to be smaller than 2.8 AU, providing the tightest limit on where these jets originate.

Contribution

First infrared images detecting both jet and counterjet knots in HH 34, enabling precise symmetry analysis and constraining the jet formation region size.

Findings

Detected both jet and counterjet knots in IR for the first time.

Confirmed large-scale symmetry up to 1 pc from the source.

Constrained the jet formation region to less than 2.8 AU.

Abstract

We present a new Spitzer IRAC images of the HH 34 outflow. These are the first images that detect both the knots along the southern jet and the northern counterjet (the counterjet knots were only detected previously in a long slit spectrum). This result removes the problem of the apparent coexistence of a large scale symmetry (at distances of up to approx.1 pc) and a complete lack of symmetry close to the source (at distances of approx. 1.e+17 cm) for this outflow. We present a quantitative evaluation of the newly found symmetry between the HH 34 jet and counterjet, and show that the observed degree of symmetry implies that the jet production region has a characteristic size <2.8 AU. This is the strongest constraint yet derived for the size of the region in which HH jets are produced.