High-resolution EVLA image of dimethyl ether (CH$_{3}$)$_{2}$O in Orion--KL

TL;DR

This study presents the first high-resolution EVLA image of dimethyl ether in Orion--KL, revealing its distribution and similarity to methyl formate, demonstrating EVLA's capabilities for detailed molecular imaging.

Contribution

First sub-arcsecond imaging of dimethyl ether in Orion--KL, showcasing EVLA's enhanced spectral resolution and coverage for complex molecule studies.

Findings

Dimethyl ether distribution aligns with lower-resolution maps.

Emission peaks are near the Compact Ridge and Hot Core.

EVLA's capabilities enable detailed molecular imaging.

Abstract

We report the first sub-arc second (0.65$\arcsec$ $\times$ 0.51$\arcsec$) image of the dimethyl ether molecule, (CH$_{3}$)$_{2}$O, toward the Orion Kleinmann-Low nebula (Orion--KL). The observations were carried at 43.4 GHz with the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA). The distribution of the lower energy transition 6$_{1,5} - 6_{0,6}$, EE (E$\rm_{u}$ = 21 K) mapped in this study is in excellent agreement with the published dimethyl ether emission maps imaged with a lower resolution. The main emission peaks are observed toward the Compact Ridge and Hot Core southwest components, at the northern parts of the Compact Ridge and in an intermediate position between the Compact Ridge and the Hot Core. A notable result is that the distribution of dimethyl ether is very similar to that of another important larger O-bearing species, the methyl formate (HCOOCH$_{3}$), imaged at lower resolution. Our study shows that higher spectral resolution (WIDAR correlator) and increased spectral coverage provided by the EVLA offer new possibilities for imaging complex molecular species. The sensitivity improvement and the other EVLA improvements make this instrument well suited for high sensitivity, high angular resolution, molecular line imaging.