A very young, compact bipolar H$_2$O maser outflow in the intermediate-mass star-forming LkH$\alpha$ 234 region

TL;DR

This study presents multi-epoch VLBI observations of H$_2$O masers revealing a very young, bipolar outflow from an intermediate-mass YSO in the LkH$ extalpha$ 234 region, indicating episodic jet ejections similar to those in high-mass and low-mass YSOs.

Contribution

First detection of a compact bipolar H$_2$O maser outflow in an intermediate-mass star-forming region, suggesting episodic jet ejections occur across different stellar mass regimes.

Findings

Outflow age estimated at ~40 years.

Outflow velocity around 20 km/s.

Episodic ejections linked to accretion variability.

Abstract

We report multi-epoch VLBI H$_2$O maser observations towards the compact cluster of YSOs close to the Herbig Be star LkH$\alpha$ 234. This cluster includes LkH$\alpha$ 234 and at least nine more YSOs that are formed within projected distances of $\sim$10 arcsec ($\sim$9,000 au). We detect H$_2$O maser emission towards four of these YSOs. In particular, our VLBI observations (including proper motion measurements) reveal a remarkable very compact ($\sim$0.2 arcsec = $\sim$180 au), bipolar H$_2$O maser outflow emerging from the embedded YSO VLA 2. We estimate a kinematic age of $\sim$40 yr for this bipolar outflow, with expanding velocities of $\sim$20 km s$^{-1}$ and momentum rate $\dot M_w V_w$ $\simeq$ $10^{-4}-10^{-3}$ M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ km s$^{-1}$$\times (\Omega$/$4\pi)$, powered by a YSO of a few solar masses. We propose that the outflow is produced by recurrent episodic jet ejections associated with the formation of this YSO. Short-lived episodic ejection events have previously been found towards high-mass YSOs. We show now that this behaviour is also present in intermediate-mass YSOs. These short-lived episodic ejections are probably related to episodic increases in the accretion rate, as observed in low-mass YSOs. We predict the presence of an accretion disk associated with VLA 2. If detected, this would represent one of the few known examples of intermediate-mass stars with a disk-YSO-jet system at scales of a few hundred au.