Phillip Oakey
University of Virginia
A Survey of Atomic Outflows from Massive Protostars
Phillip Oakey (University of Virginia) Yao-Lun Yang (RIKEN), Jonathan Tan (Chalmers/University of Virginia), Rubén Fedriani (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía), Yichen Zhang (Shanghai Jiao Tong), Lianis Reyes-Rosa (University of Virginia)
Massive stars play important roles in the regulation of star formation and galaxy evolution. However, placing observational constraints on the formation of massive stars is challenging due to their high extinction and complex structure. Outflows provide a unique window to probe the deeply embedded massive protostars, constraining models of massive star formation. In this study, we investigate 17 massive protostars in the SOFIA Massive (SOMA) Star Formation Survey, searching for atomic, ionized and highly excited molecular outflows. Each source was observed with the Far-Infrared, Field-Imaging Line Spectrometer (FIFI-LS) for the [OI] 63 μm and 145 μm lines as well as the [OIII] line at 52 μm and the CO(14-13) line at 186 μm, seeking to characterize the interactions between the outflow and surrounding environment. We also measure continuum fluxes at these wavelengths to improve spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting and examine FIR color gradients as a predictor of outflow axis orientation. We present detections of [OI] in all sources and CO(14-13) in 12 sources and examine the correlation of these line luminosities with intrinsic protostellar properties. We find that strong [OIII] emission is detected in six sources and discuss its use as a diagnostic of ionized gas in the most massive and evolved protostellar systems.
