A Parsec-scale Bipolar H$_2$ Outflow in the Massive Star Forming Infrared Dark Cloud Core MSXDC G053.11+00.05 MM1

TL;DR

This study reports a parsec-scale bipolar H2 outflow in a massive star-forming infrared dark cloud core, driven by young stellar objects with evidence of variability and high mass, highlighting complex star formation processes.

Contribution

First detection of a large-scale bipolar H2 outflow in an infrared dark cloud core associated with massive YSOs, revealing detailed morphology and potential multiple driving sources.

Findings

Outflow length is approximately 1 parsec.

Outflow luminosity exceeds 6 solar luminosities.

Associated YSOs are massive and show photometric variability.

Abstract

We present a parsec-scale molecular hydrogen (H$_2$ 1-0 S(1) at 2.12~\micron) outflow discovered from the UKIRT Widefield Infrared Survey for H$_2$. The outflow is located in the infrared dark cloud core MSXDC G053.11+00.05 MM1 at 1.7 kpc and likely associated with two young stellar objects (YSOs) at the center. The overall morphology of the outflow is bipolar along the NE-SW direction with a brighter lobe to the southwest, but the detailed structure consists of several flows and knots. With the total length of $\sim$1 pc, the outflow luminosity is fairly high with $L_{\rm H_{2}} > 6~L_{\sun}$, implying a massive outflow-driving YSO if the entire outflow is driven by a single source. The two putative driving sources, located at the outflow center, show photometric variability of $\gtrsim$1 mag in {\it H}- and {\it K}-bands. This, with their early evolutionary stage from spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting, indicates that both are capable of ejecting outflows and may be eruptive variable YSOs. The YSO masses inferred from SED fitting are $\sim$10~$M_{\sun}$ and $\sim$5~$M_{\sun}$, suggesting the association of the outflow with massive YSOs. The geometrical morphology of the outflow is well explained by the lower mass YSO by assuming a single source origin, but without kinematic information, the contribution from the higher mass YSO cannot be ruled out. Considering star formation process by fragmentation of a high-mass core into several lower mass stars, we also suggest the possible presence of another, yet-undetected driving source deeply embedded in the core.