Chemical and kinematic complexity of the very young star-forming region Serpens Main observed with ALMA

TL;DR

This study uses ALMA observations to explore the chemical and kinematic complexity of young protostars in Serpens Main, revealing diverse chemical compositions and outflow structures that relate to their evolutionary stages.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the chemical diversity and outflow dynamics of the youngest star-forming protostars in Serpens Main, highlighting differences linked to physical structure and evolution.

Findings

Ser-SMM1 has the richest chemical composition among observed sources.

Complex molecules are present in some sources but absent in others, indicating possible evolutionary effects.

EHV molecular jets are detected in some protostars but not in others, showing varied outflow activity.

Abstract

The youngest low-mass protostars are known to be chemically rich, accreting matter most vigorously, and producing the most powerful outflows. Molecules are unique tracers of these phenomena. We use ALMA to study several outflow sources in the Serpens Main region. The most luminous source, Ser-SMM1, shows the richest chemical composition, but some complex molecules are also present in S68N. No emission from complex organics is detected toward Ser-emb 8N, which is the least luminous in the sample. We discuss whether these differences reflect an evolutionary effect or whether they are due to different physical structures. We also analyze the outflow structure from these young protostars by comparing emission of CO and SiO. EHV molecular jets originating from SMM1-a,b and Ser-emb 8N contrast with no such activity from S68N, which on the other hand presents a complex outflow structure.