New Radio Continuum Observations of the Compact Source Projected Inside NGC 6334A

TL;DR

This study analyzes radio observations of a compact source in NGC 6334A, revealing its variability and non-thermal spectrum, suggesting it may be a wind interaction region of a massive binary system.

Contribution

It provides new evidence of the nature of a compact radio source in NGC 6334A, proposing a binary wind interaction origin based on variability and spectral analysis.

Findings

The compact source is variable over years.

The spectrum indicates non-thermal synchrotron emission.

The source may be a binary wind interaction region.

Abstract

A handful of HII regions are known to exhibit a compact radio source near their centers. The nature of these compact radio sources is not well established. We present the analysis of new as well as archival Very Large Array observations of the compact source projected near the center of the NGC 6334A HII region, part of the NGC 6334 complex. We show that the compact source is time variable on a scale of years and determine for one epoch a non-thermal spectrum, suggestive of synchrotron emission. We propose that this source could be the wind interaction region of a massive binary system that could be the ionizing source of NGC 6334A.