JOYS: Disentangling the warm and cold material in the high-mass IRAS 23385+6053 cluster

TL;DR

This study combines high-resolution MIR and mm observations to analyze the temperature, morphology, and shock processes in the high-mass star-forming region IRAS 23385+6053, revealing cold core material and energetic outflows with shock signatures.

Contribution

It provides a detailed multi-wavelength analysis of the warm and cold gas components and shock phenomena in IRAS 23385+6053, utilizing JWST and NOEMA data for the first time in this context.

Findings

Cold core material (~50 K) dominates the central region.

Multiple outflows exhibit shock signatures with varying types (J-type and C-type).

Forbidden line emissions suggest proximity to the protostar.

Abstract

(abridged) We study and compare the warm (>100 K) and cold (<100 K) material toward the high-mass star-forming region IRAS 23385+6053 (IRAS 23385 hereafter) combining high angular resolution observations in the mid-infrared (MIR) with the JWST Observations of Young protoStars (JOYS) project and with the NOEMA at mm wavelengths at angular resolutions of 0.2"-1". The spatial morphology of atomic and molecular species is investigated by line integrated intensity maps. The temperature and column density of different gas components is estimated using H2 transitions (warm and hot component) and a series of CH3CN transitions as well as 3 mm continuum emission (cold component). Toward the central dense core in IRAS 23385 the material consists of relatively cold gas and dust (~50 K), while multiple outflows create heated and/or shocked H2 and show enhanced temperatures (~400 K) along the outflow structures. An energetic outflow with enhanced emission knots of [Fe II] and [Ni II] hints at J-type shocks, while two other outflows have enhanced emission of only H2 and [S I] caused by C-type shocks. The latter two outflows are also more prominent in molecular line emission at mm wavelengths (e.g., SiO, SO, H2CO, and CH3OH). Even higher angular resolution data are needed to unambiguously identify the outflow driving sources given the clustered nature of IRAS 23385. While most of the forbidden fine structure transitions are blueshifted, [Ne II] and [Ne III] peak at the source velocity toward the MIR source A/mmA2 suggesting that the emission is originating from closer to the protostar.