Anomalous CO2 Ice Toward HOPS-68: A Tracer of Protostellar Feedback

TL;DR

This study detects a unique CO2 ice profile toward the protostar HOPS-68, revealing insights into protostellar feedback processes and the physical conditions of the protostellar envelope.

Contribution

It introduces a modified CO2 ice profile decomposition and proposes a novel scenario linking protostellar feedback to ice chemistry and structure.

Findings

87-92% of CO2 is in spherical, CO2-rich mantles

Absence of unprocessed ices due to flattened envelope structure

Energetic events cause ice sublimation and re-condensation

Abstract

We report the detection of a unique CO2 ice band toward the deeply embedded, low-mass protostar HOPS-68. Our spectrum, obtained with the Infrared Spectrograph onboard the Spitzer Space Telescope, reveals a 15.2 micron CO2 ice bending mode profile that cannot modeled with the same ice structure typically found toward other protostars. We develop a modified CO2 ice profile decomposition, including the addition of new high-quality laboratory spectra of pure, crystalline CO2 ice. Using this model, we find that 87-92% of the CO2 is sequestered as spherical, CO2-rich mantles, while typical interstellar ices show evidence of irregularly-shaped, hydrogen-rich mantles. We propose that (1) the nearly complete absence of unprocessed ices along the line-of-sight is due to the flattened envelope structure of HOPS-68, which lacks cold absorbing material in its outer envelope, and possesses an extreme concentration of material within its inner (10 AU) envelope region and (2) an energetic event led to the evaporation of inner envelope ices, followed by cooling and re-condensation, explaining the sequestration of spherical, CO2 ice mantles in a hydrogen-poor mixture. The mechanism responsible for the sublimation could be either a transient accretion event or shocks in the interaction region between the protostellar outflow and envelope. The proposed scenario is consistent with the rarity of the observed CO2 ice profile, the formation of nearly pure CO2 ice, and the production of spherical ice mantles. HOPS-68 may therefore provide a unique window into the protostellar feedback process, as outflows and heating shape the physical and chemical structure of protostellar envelopes and molecular clouds.