Molecular outflows around high-mass young stellar objects

Abstract

We present a study of molecular outflows using high-resolution mapping of the CO (1-0) line emission toward eight relatively nearby 6.7 GHz methanol masers, which are associated with massive star forming regions. Outflows were detected in seven out of eight sources, and five of them clearly show bipolar or multiple outflow morphologies. These outflows have typical masses of a few solar masses, momenta of tens of $M_{\odot}$ km s$^{-1}$, kinetic energies of $\sim$ 10$^{45}$ ergs, and the mass entrainment rate of a few $10^{-5} M_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$. They have significantly more mass and kinetic energy than their low-mass counterparts. In some of the sources, the massive outflow is obviously associated with a particular massive star in the cluster, while in others the origin remains uncertain. The high detection rate of outflows toward methanol masers suggests that the outflow phase of massive protostars encompasses the methanol maser phase.