An optical parsec-scale jet from a massive young star in the Large Magellanic Cloud

TL;DR

This paper reports the first detection of an extragalactic optical jet from a massive young star in the Large Magellanic Cloud, providing evidence for disk-mediated accretion in high-mass star formation.

Contribution

It presents the discovery of a highly collimated optical jet from a massive young stellar object outside the Milky Way, supporting the universality of jet physics across stellar masses.

Findings

First extragalactic optical ionized jet from a massive star

Jet is highly collimated over at least 10 parsecs

Indicates ongoing disk-mediated accretion in high-mass star formation

Abstract

Highly collimated parsec-scale jets, generally linked to the presence of an accretion disk, are a commonly observed phenomenon from revealed low-mass young stellar objects. In the past two decades, only a very few of these objects have been directly (or indirectly) observed towards high-mass (M > 8 M$_{\odot}$) young stellar objects, adding to the growing evidence that disk-mediated accretion is a phenomenon also occurring in high-mass stars, the formation mechanism of which is still poorly understood. Of the observed jets from massive young stars, none is in the optical regime (due to these being typically highly obscured by their native material), and none are found outside of the Milky Way. Here, we report the detection of HH 1177, the first extragalactic optical ionized jet originating from a massive young stellar object located in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The jet is highly collimated over the entire measured extent of at least 10 pc, and has a bipolar geometry. The presence of a jet indicates ongoing, disk-mediated accretion, and together with the high degree of collimation, this system is therefore likely to be an up-scaled version of low-mass star formation. We conclude that the physics governing jet launching and collimation is independent of stellar mass.