Context. Very low-mass stars are known to have jets and outflows, which is indicative of a scaled-down version of low-mass star formation. However, only very few outflows in very low-mass sources are well characterized. Aims. We characterize the bipolar molecular outflow of the very low-mass star Par-Lup3-4, a 0.12 M object known to power an optical jet. Methods. We observed Par-Lup3-4 with ALMA in Bands 6 and 7, detecting both the continuum and CO molecular gas. In particular, we studied three main emission lines: CO(2-1), CO(3-2), and 13 CO(3-2). Results. Our observations reveal for the first time the base of a bipolar molecular outflow in a very low-mass star, as well as a stream of material moving perpendicular to the primary outflow of this source. The primary outflow morphology is consistent with the previously determined jet orientation and disk inclination. The outflow mass is 9.5 × 10 -7 M , with an outflow rate of 4.3 × 10 -9 M yr -1 . A new fitting to the spectral energy distribution suggests that Par-Lup3-4 may be a binary system. Conclusions. We have characterized Par-Lup3-4 in detail, and its properties are consistent with those reported in other very low-mass sources. This source provides further evidence that very low-mass sources form as a scaled-down version of low-mass stars. ; With funding from the Spanish government through the "María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence" accreditation (MDM-2017-0737)
In the past decade, astrochemistry has witnessed an impressive increase in the number of detections of complex organic molecules. Some of these species are of prebiotic interest such as glycolaldehyde, the simplest sugar, or aminoacetonitrile, a possible precursor of glycine. Recently, we have reported the detection of two new nitrogen-bearing complex organics, glycolonitrile and Z-cyanomethanimine, known to be intermediate species in the formation process of ribonucleotides within theories of a primordial RNA-world for the origin of life. In this study, we present deep and high-sensitivity observations toward two of the most chemically rich sources in the galaxy: a giant molecular cloud in the center of the Milky Way (G + 0.693-0.027) and a proto-Sun (IRAS16293-2422 B). Our aim is to explore whether the key precursors considered to drive the primordial RNA-world chemistry are also found in space. Our high-sensitivity observations reveal that urea is present in G + 0.693-0.027 with an abundance of ∼5 × 10-11. This is the first detection of this prebiotic species outside a star-forming region. Urea remains undetected toward the proto-Sun IRAS16293-2422 B (upper limit to its abundance of ≤2 × 10-11). Other precursors of the RNA-world chemical scheme such as glycolaldehyde or cyanamide are abundant in space, but key prebiotic species such as 2-amino-oxazole, glyceraldehyde, or dihydroxyacetone are not detected in either source. Future more sensitive observations targeting the brightest transitions of these species will be needed to disentangle whether these large prebiotic organics are certainly present in space. ; With funding from the Spanish government through the "María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence" accreditation (MDM-2017-0737); This work has been partially supported by MINECO and FEDER (project numbers ESP2015-65597-C4-1, CTQ2017-89150-R, and ESP2017-86582-C4-1-R)
The recent data collected by Herschel have confirmed that interstellar structures with a filamentary shape are ubiquitously present in the Milky Way. Filaments are thought to he formed by several physical mechanisms acting from large Galactic scales down to suhparsec fractions of molecular clouds, and they might represent a possible link between star formation and the large-scale structure of the Galaxy, In order to study this potential link, a statistically significant sample of filaments spread throughout the Galaxy is required, In this work, we present the first catalogue of 32 059 candidate filaments automatically identified in the Herschel Infrared Galactic plane Survey (Hi-GAL) of the entire Galactic plane. For these objects, we determined morphological (length la and geometrical shape) and physical (average column density N0, and average temperature 7) properties. We identified filaments with a wide range of properties: 2 < la < 100 arcmin, 1020 < N0, < 1023 cm-2 and 10 < T < 35 K. We discuss their association with the Hi-GAL compact sources, finding that the most tenuous (and stable) structures do not host any major condensation. We also assign a distance to 18 400 filaments, for which we determine mass, physical size, stability conditions and Galactic distribution. When compared with the spiral arms structure, we find no significant difference between the physical properties of on-arm and inter-arm filaments. We compare our sample with previous studies, finding that our Ili-GAL filament catalogue represents a significant extension in terms of Galactic coverage and sensitivity. This catalogue represents a unique and important tool for future studies devoted to understanding the filament life-cycle. ; VIALACTEA Project, a Collaborative Project under Framework Programme 7 of the European Union 607380 aforementioned VIALACTEA Project Italian Space Agency (ASI) I/038/080/0 I/029/12/0 CONICYT Programa de Astronomia Fondo ALMA-CONICYT 3119AS0001 BMVIT (Austria) ESA-PRODEX (Belgium) French Atomic Energy Commission Centre National D'etudes Spatiales Helmholtz Association German Aerospace Centre (DLR) Italian Space Agency (ASI) Consejo Interinstitucional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CICYT) Spanish Government CSA (Canada) NAOC (China) French Atomic Energy Commission Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Centre National D'etudes Spatiales MCINN (Spain) StockholmObservatory (Sweden) Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC) National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA)
Aims. The Seeds Of Life In Space IRAM/NOEMA large program aims at studying a set of crucial complex organic molecules in a sample of sources with a well-known physical structure that covers the various phases of solar-type star formation. One representative object of the transition from the prestellar core to the protostar phases has been observed toward the very low luminosity object (VeLLO) L1521F. This type of source is important to study to link prestellar cores and Class 0 sources and also to constrain the chemical evolution during the process of star formation. Methods. Two frequency windows (81.6-82.6 GHz and 96.65-97.65 GHz) were used to observe the emission from several complex organics toward the L1521F VeLLO. These setups cover transitions of ketene (HCCO), propyne (CHCCH), formamide (NHCHO), methoxy (CHO), methanol (CHOH), dimethyl ether (CHOCH), and methyl formate (HCOOCH). Results. Only two transitions of methanol (A, E) have been detected in the narrow window centered at 96.7 GHz (with an upper limit on E) in a very compact emission blob (∼7″ corresponding to ∼1000 au) toward the northeast of the L1521F protostar. The CS 2-1 transition is also detected within theWideX bandwidth. Consistently with what has been found in prestellar cores, the methanol emission appears ∼1000 au away from the dust peak. The location of the methanol blob coincides with one of the filaments that have previously been reported in the literature. The excitation temperature of the gas inferred from methanol is (10 ± 2) K, while the H gas density (estimated from the detected CS 2-1 emission and previous CS 5-4 ALMA observations) is a factor >25 higher than the density in the surrounding environment (n(H) ≥ 10 cm). Conclusions. Based on its compactness, low excitation temperature, and high gas density, we suggest that the methanol emission detected with NOEMA is (i) either a cold and dense shock-induced blob that formed recently (≤ a few hundred years) by infalling gas or (ii) a cold and dense fragment that may just have been formed as a result of the intense gas dynamics within the L1521F VeLLO system. ; With funding from the Spanish government through the "María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence" accreditation (MDM-2017-0737)
