High-resolution images of two wiggling stellar jets, MHO 1502 and MHO 2147, obtained with GSAOI+GeMS

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution adaptive optics imaging to analyze the morphology of two stellar jets, exploring their potential binarity and modeling their wiggling profiles to understand their origins.

Contribution

It provides detailed high-resolution images of the jets and proposes models to explain their wiggling shapes, suggesting possible binarity of the exciting stars.

Findings

MHO 1502's jet shows intermittent ejection patterns.

IRAC 18064 may be a binary star, but not the jet's true source.

Precession best explains MHO 2147's jet morphology.

Abstract

We investigated the possible cause-effect relation between the wiggling shape of two stellar jets, MHO 1502 and MHO 2147, and the potential binarity of the respective driving stars. We present high-angular-resolution H$_2$ (2.122 $\mu$m) and K-band images obtained with the Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager (GSAOI) and the Gemini Multi-conjugate Adaptive Optics System (GeMS). The profiles of the jets are depicted in detail by the H$_2$ images. We used K-band data to search for potential close companions to the previously suggested exciting sources, and used archive data to investigate these sources and the environments in which the jets are located. We also applied a model to reproduce the wiggling profiles of the jets. MHO~1502 is composed of a chain of knots delineating the wiggling jet, suggesting that the driving source emitted them in an intermittent manner. Our K-band image of the previously proposed exciting star, IRAC 18064, shows two sources separated by $\sim240$ AU, hinting at its binarity. However, as IRAC 18064 is located off the jet axis at $\sim2064$ AU, it is questionable as to whether this source is the true exciting star. Moreover, the orbital model centred on IRAC 18064 suggests a binary companion at a much greater distance ($\sim2200$ AU) than the nearby star (at $\sim$240 AU). On the other hand, the orbital model centred on the axis provides the best fits. Nevertheless, the precession model centred on the axis cannot be discarded, despite having larger residuals and $\chi^2$. MHO 2147 displays an S-shaped gentle continuous emission in H$_2$. We identify two other jets in the field of MHO 2147: a previously reported quasi-perpendicular jet, MHO 2148, and a third jet adjacent to MHO 2147. The model that best fits the morphology of the MHO 2147 jet and that of its adjacent jet is precession. The exciting source of MHO 2147 may be a triple system.