G5.89: An Explosive Outflow Powered by a Proto-Stellar Merger?

• Published in: arXiv.org 2019-04
• Main Authors: Zapata, Luis A, Ho, Paul T P, Guzman-Ccolque, Estrella, Fernandez-Lopez, Manuel, Rodriguez, Luis F, Bally, John, Sanhueza, Patricio, Palau, Aina, Saito, Masao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Angular resolution; Binary stars; Filaments; Galaxies; Massive stars; Outflow; Star & galaxy formation; Star formation; Star mergers
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1904.04385

The explosive outflows are a newly-discovered family of molecular outflows associated with high-mass star forming regions. Such energetic events are possibly powered by the release of gravitational energy related with the formation of a (proto)stellar merger or a close stellar binary. Here, we present sensitive and high angular resolution observations (0.85\(''\)) archival CO(J=3-2) observations carried out with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) of the high-mass star forming region G5.89\(-\)0.39 that reveal the possible presence of an explosive outflow. We find six well-defined and narrow straight filament-like ejections pointing back approximately to the center of an expanding molecular and ionized shell located at the center of this region. These high velocity (\(-\)120 to \(+\)100 km s\(^{-1}\)) filaments follow a Hubble-like velocity law with the radial velocities increasing with the projected distance. The estimated kinematical age of the filaments is about of 1000 yrs, a value similar to the dynamical age found for the expanding ionized shell. G5.89 is the thus the third explosive outflow reported in the galaxy (together with Orion BN-KL and DR21) and argues in favor of the idea that this is a frequent phenomenon. In particular, explosive outflows, in conjunction with runaway stars, demonstrate that dynamical interactions in such groups are a very important ingredient in star formation.