Arcsecond resolution images of the chemical structure of the low-mass protostar IRAS 16293-2422

TL;DR

This study provides high-resolution submillimeter images revealing the detailed chemical composition and spatial distribution of molecules in the low-mass protostar IRAS 16293-2422, highlighting chemical diversity and outflow effects.

Contribution

It offers the first high-resolution molecular line survey of IRAS 16293-2422, identifying over 500 transitions and mapping chemical variations across the system.

Findings

Chemical differences between protostellar components are evident.

Protostellar outflows influence surrounding molecular material.

Cold gas-phase chemistry is directly imaged through specific molecular enhancements.

Abstract

It remains a key challenge to establish the molecular content of different components of low-mass protostars, like their envelopes and disks, and how this depends on the evolutionary stage and/or environment of the young stars. Observations at submillimeter wavelengths provide a direct possibility to study the chemical composition of low-mass protostars through transitions probing temperatures up to a few hundred K in the gas surrounding these sources. This paper presents a large molecular line survey of the deeply embedded protostellar binary IRAS 16293-2422 from the Submillimeter Array (SMA) - including images of individual lines down to approximately 1.5-3" (190-380 AU) resolution. More than 500 individual transitions are identified related to 54 molecular species (including isotopologues) probing temperatures up to about 550 K. Strong chemical differences are found between the two components in the protostellar system with a separation between, in particular, the sulfur- and nitrogen-bearing species and oxygen-bearing complex organics. The action of protostellar outflow on the ambient envelope material is seen in images of CO and SiO and appear to influence a number of other species, including (deuterated) water, HDO. The effects of cold gas-phase chemistry is directly imaged through maps of CO, N2D+ and DCO+, showing enhancements of first DCO+ and subsequently N2D+ in the outer envelope where CO freezes-out on dust grains.