Patel NA, Curiel S, Sridharan TK, Zhang Q, Hunter TR, Ho PTP, Torrelles JM, Moran JM, Gómez JF, Anglada G. A disk of dust and molecular gas around a high-mass protostar.
Nature 2005;
437:109-11. [PMID:
16136136 DOI:
10.1038/nature04011]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 160] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2005] [Accepted: 06/28/2005] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The processes leading to the birth of low-mass stars such as our Sun have been well studied, but the formation of high-mass (over eight times the Sun's mass, M(o)) stars remains poorly understood. Recent studies suggest that high-mass stars may form through accretion of material from a circumstellar disk, in essentially the same way as low-mass stars form, rather than through the merging of several low-mass stars. There is as yet, however, no conclusive evidence. Here we report the presence of a flattened disk-like structure around a massive 15M(o) protostar in the Cepheus A region, based on observations of continuum emission from the dust and line emission from the molecular gas. The disk has a radius of about 330 astronomical units (Au) and a mass of 1 to 8 M(o). It is oriented perpendicular to, and spatially coincident with, the central embedded powerful bipolar radio jet, just as is the case with low-mass stars, from which we conclude that high-mass stars can form through accretion.
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