Detection of a high-mass prestellar core candidate in W43-MM1

TL;DR

This study identifies a potential high-mass prestellar core in W43-MM1 using ALMA observations, revealing one core with star formation activity and another candidate core without signs of star formation, advancing understanding of massive star formation stages.

Contribution

The paper reports the discovery of a high-mass prestellar core candidate in W43-MM1, providing observational evidence of early massive star formation stages.

Findings

One core shows outflows and hot core signatures, indicating active star formation.

The other core, W43-MM1#6, shows no signs of star formation, making it a prime prestellar candidate.

Both cores are gravitationally bound and turbulent, consistent with early formation stages.

Abstract

Aims. To constrain the physical processes that lead to the birth of high-mass stars it is mandatory to study the very first stages of their formation. We search for high-mass analogs of low-mass prestellar cores in W43-MM1. Methods. We conducted a 1.3 mm ALMA mosaic of the complete W43-MM1 cloud, which has revealed numerous cores with ~ 2000 au FWHM sizes. We investigated the nature of cores located at the tip of the main filament, where the clustering is minimum. We used the continuum emission to measure the core masses and the $^{13}$CS(5-4) line emission to estimate their turbulence level. We also investigated the prestellar or protostellar nature of these cores by searching for outflow signatures traced by CO(2-1) and SiO(5-4) line emission, and for molecular complexity typical of embedded hot cores. Results. Two high-mass cores of ~ 1300 au diameter and ~ $60~M_\odot$ mass are observed to be turbulent but gravitationally bound. One drives outflows and is associated with a hot core. The other core, W43-MM1\#6, does not yet reveal any star formation activity and thus is an excellent high-mass prestellar core candidate.