Crescent-Shaped Molecular Outflow from the Intermediate-mass Protostar DK Cha Revealed by ALMA

TL;DR

This study uses ALMA observations to reveal a crescent-shaped molecular outflow from the intermediate-mass protostar DK Cha, providing insights into outflow dynamics and envelope structure in a nearly face-on star-forming system.

Contribution

First detailed ALMA imaging of a crescent-shaped outflow from DK Cha, revealing velocity gradients and complex envelope structures in a face-on protostellar system.

Findings

Crescent-shaped high-velocity outflow traced by CO emission.

Layered velocity gradient indicating inner high-velocity outflow.

Arc-like envelope structures connected to infalling streams.

Abstract

We report on an Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) study of the Class I or II intermediate-mass protostar DK Cha in the Chamaeleon II region. The 12CO (J=2-1) images have an angular resolution of ~1'' (~250 au) and show high-velocity blueshifted (>70 km s-1) and redshifted (>50 km s-1) emissions which have 3000 au scale crescent-shaped structures around the protostellar disk traced in the 1.3mm continuum. Because the high-velocity components of the CO emission are associated with the protostar, we concluded that the emission traces the pole-on outflow. The blueshifted outflow lobe has a clear layered velocity gradient with a higher velocity component located on the inner side of the crescent shape, which can be explained by a model of an outflow with a higher velocity in the inner radii. Based on the directly driven outflow scenario, we estimated the driving radii from the observed outflow velocities and found that the driving region extends over two orders of magnitude. The 13CO emission traces a complex envelope structure with arc-like substructures with lengths of ~1000au. We identified the arc-like structures as streamers because they appear to be connected to a rotating infalling envelope. DK Cha is useful for understanding characteristics that are visible by looking at nearly face-on configurations of young protostellar systems, providing an alternative perspective for studying the star-formation process.