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NRAO/Socorro Colloquium Series

Jose-Maria Torrelles

CSIC

Short-lived Pulsed Outflow Events in Massive Protostars

VLBI multi-epoch water maser observations are a powerful tool to study the dense, warm shocked gas very close to massive protostars. The very high-angular resolution of these observations allow us to measure the proper motions of the masers in a few weeks, and together with the radial velocity, to determine their full kinematics. In this talk we present a summary of the main VLBA observational results obtained by our group during the last ten years toward the massive star-forming regions of Cepheus A, W75N, and AFGL 2591, among them: (i) the identification of different centers of high-mass star formation activity at scales of 100 AU, unknown previously; and (ii) the discovery of new phenomena associated with the early stages of high-mass protostellar evolution. For example, the identification of the simultaneous presence of a wide-angle outflow and a highly collimated jet in a massive object, similar to what is observed in some low-mass protostars, and the short-lived outflow events that seem to be characteristic of the first stages of evolution of massive protostars. Some of the important implications of these results in the study of high-mass star formation are discussed.

June 28, 2013
11:00 am

Array Operations Center Auditorium

All NRAO employees are invited to attend via video, available in Charlottesville CR  230, Green Bank Auditorium and Tucson N525.

Local Host: Juergen Ott

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