Hot ammonia around young O-type stars. III. High-mass star formation and hot core activity in W51~Main

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution ammonia imaging to analyze the hot molecular gas and star formation activity in W51 Main, revealing multiple cores at different evolutionary stages and providing insights into high-mass star formation processes.

Contribution

It presents detailed ammonia maps of W51 Main with unprecedented resolution, identifying multiple star-forming cores and their physical properties, advancing understanding of high-mass star formation.

Findings

W51e2-W shows signs of rotation but no Keplerian profile.

W51e2-E has abundant gas, outflows, and masers, indicating active accretion.

W51e2-NW and W51e8 are less dense hot cores with significant molecular gas.

Abstract

This paper is the third in a series of ammonia multilevel imaging studies in well-known high-mass star forming regions. Using the JVLA, we have mapped the hot and dense molecular gas in W51 Main, with about 0.2 arcsec angular resolution, in five highly-excited metastable inversion transitions of ammonia (ammonia): (J,K)=(6,6), (7,7), (9,9), (10,10), and (13,13). We have identified and characterised two main centers of high-mass star formation in W51-Main: the W51e2 complex and the W51e8 core (6 arcsec southward of W51e2). The former breaks down into three further sub-cores: W51e2-W, which surrounds the well known HC HII region, where hot ammonia is observed in absorption, and two additional dusty cores, W51e2-E (~0.8" to the East) and W51e2-NW (~1" to the North), where hot ammonia is observed in emission. The velocity maps towards the HC HII region show a clear velocity gradient that may indicate rotation, though we do not directly observe a Keplerian velocity profile. The absence of outflow and/or maser activity and the low amount of molecular gas available for accretion (~5 solar masses) with respect to the mass of the central YSO (>20 solar masses), both indicate that the central YSO has already accreted most of its final mass. On the other hand, in the nearby W51e2-E object, the relatively large amount of hot molecular gas available for accretion (~20 solar masses, within about half an arcsecond or 2500 AU), along with strong outflow and maser activity, indicates that the main accretion center in the W51e2 complex is W51e2-E rather than W51e2-W. Finally, W51e2-NW and W51e8, although less dense, are also hot cores and contain a significant amount of molecular gas (~30 and 70 solar masses, respectively). We speculate that they may host high-mass YSOs either at a previous evolutionary stage or with lower mass than W51e2-E and W51e2-W.