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HOPS 87 is a Class 0 protostellar core known to harbor an extremely young bipolar outflow and a hot corino. We report the discovery of localized, chemically rich regions near the bases of the two-lobe bipolar molecular outflow in HOPS 87 containing molecules such as H _2 CO, ^13 CS, H _2 S, OCS, and CH _3 OH, the simplest complex organic molecule (COM). The locations and kinematics suggest that these localized features are due to jet-driven shocks rather than being part of the hot-corino region encasing the protostar. The COM compositions of the molecular gas in these jet-localized regions are relatively simpler than those in the hot-corino zone. We speculate that this simplicity is due to either the liberation of ice with a less complex chemical history or the effects of shock chemistry. Our study highlights the dynamic interplay between the protostellar bipolar outflow, disk, inner-core environment, and the surrounding medium, contributing to our understanding of molecular complexity in solar-like young stellar objects.

We conducted a Ka -band (26.1–35 GHz) line survey toward Orion KL using the TianMa 65 m Radio Telescope (TMRT). It is the first blind line survey in the Ka band and achieves a sensitivity at the mK level (1–3 mK at a spectral resolution of ∼1 km s ^−1 ). In total, 592 Gaussian features are extracted. Among them, 257 radio recombination lines (RRLs) are identified. The maximum Δ n of RRLs of H, He, and C are 20, 15, and 5, respectively. Through stacking, we have detected the β lines of ion RRLs (RRLs of C ^+ with the possible contribution of other ions like O ^+ ) for the first time, and a tentative signal of the γ lines of ion RRLs can also be seen on the stacked spectrum. Besides this, 318 other line features were assigned to 37 molecular species, and 10 of these species were not detected in the Q -band survey of TMRT. The vibrationally excited states of nine species were also detected. The emission of most species can be modeled under LTE. A number of transitions of E-CH3OH ( J _2 − J _1 ) display maser effects, which are confirmed by our modeling, and besides the bumping peak at J ∼ 6, there is another peak at J ∼ 13. Methylcyanoacetylene (CH _3 C _3 N) is detected in Orion KL for the first time. This work emphasizes that the Ka band, which was long ignored for spectral line surveys, is very useful for surveying RRLs and molecular lines simultaneously.

Protostellar outflows and jets are almost ubiquitous characteristics during the mass accretion phase and encode the history of stellar accretion, complex organic molecule (COM) formation, and planet formation. Episodic jets are likely connected to episodic accretion through the disk. Despite the importance, studies on episodic accretion and ejection links have not been done yet in a systematic fashion using high-sensitivity and high-resolution observations. To explore episodic accretion mechanisms and the chronologies of episodic events, we investigated 39 fields containing protostars with Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations of CO, SiO, and 1.3 mm continuum emission. We detected SiO emission in 19 fields, where 17 sources are driving molecular jets. Jet velocities, mass-loss rates, mass accretion rates, and periods of accretion events appear to have some dependence on the driving forces of the jet (e.g., bolometric luminosity, envelope mass). Next, velocities and mass-loss rates appear to be somewhat correlated with the surrounding envelope mass, suggesting that the presence of high mass around protostars increases the ejection–accretion activity. We determine mean periods of ejection events of 20–175 yr for our sample, which could be associated with perturbation zones of ∼2−25 au extent around the protostars. In addition, mean ejection periods show an apparent anticorrelation with the envelope mass, where high accretion rates may trigger more frequent ejection events. The observed periods of outburst/ejection are much shorter than the freezeout timescale of the simplest COMs like CH _3 OH, suggesting that episodic events could affect the ice–gas balance inside and around the snowline.

The internal structure of the prestellar core G208.68-19.02-N2 (G208-N2) in the Orion Molecular Cloud 3 (OMC-3) region has been studied with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. The dust continuum emission revealed a filamentary structure with a length of ∼5000 au and an average H _2 volume density of ∼6 × 10 ^7 cm ^−3 . At the tip of this filamentary structure, there is a compact object, which we call a nucleus , with a radius of ∼150–200 au and a mass of ∼0.1 M _⊙ . The nucleus has a central density of ∼2 × 10 ^9 cm ^−3 with a radial density profile of r ^−1.87±0.11 . The density scaling of the nucleus is ∼3.7 times higher than that of the singular isothermal sphere (SIS). This as well as the very low virial parameter of 0.39 suggests that the gravity is dominant over the pressure everywhere in the nucleus. However, there is no sign of CO outflow localized to this nucleus. The filamentary structure is traced by the N _2 D ^+ 3–2 emission, but not by the C ^18 O 2–1 emission, implying the significant CO depletion due to high density and cold temperature. Toward the nucleus, the N _2 D ^+ also shows the signature of depletion. This could imply either the depletion of the parent molecule, N _2 , or the presence of the embedded very-low luminosity central source that could sublimate the CO in the very small area. The nucleus in G208-N2 is considered to be a prestellar core on the verge of first hydrostatic core (FHSC) formation or a candidate for the FHSC.

One of the most poorly understood aspects of low-mass star formation is how multiple-star systems are formed. Here we present the results of Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Band 6 observations toward a forming quadruple protostellar system, G206.93-16.61E2, in the Orion B molecular cloud. ALMA 1.3 mm continuum emission reveals four compact objects, of which two are Class I young stellar objects and the other two are likely in prestellar phase. The 1.3 mm continuum emission also shows three asymmetric ribbon-like structures that are connected to the four objects, with lengths ranging from ∼500 to ∼2200 au. By comparing our data with magnetohydrodynamic simulations, we suggest that these ribbons trace accretion flows and also function as gas bridges connecting the member protostars. Additionally, ALMA CO J = 2−1 line emission reveals a complicated molecular outflow associated with G206.93-16.61E2, with arc-like structures suggestive of an outflow cavity viewed pole-on.

Hot corinos are of great interest due to their richness in interstellar complex organic molecules (COMs) and the consequent potential prebiotic connection to solar-like planetary systems. Recent surveys have reported an increasing number of detected hot corinos in Class 0/I protostars; however, the relationships between their physical properties and the hot-corino signatures remain elusive. In this study, our objective is to establish a general picture of the detectability of hot corinos by identifying the origins of the hot-corino signatures in the sample of young stellar objects (YSOs) obtained from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Survey of Orion Planck Galactic Cold Clumps project. We apply spectral energy distribution modeling to our sample and identify the physical parameters of the modeled YSOs directly, linking the detection of hot-corino signatures to the envelope properties of the YSOs. Imaging simulations of the methanol emission further support this scenario. We therefore posit that the observed COM emission originates from the warm inner envelopes of the sample YSOs, based on both the warm region size and the envelope density profile. The former is governed by the source luminosity and is additionally affected by the disk and cavity properties, while the latter is related to the evolutionary stages. This scenario provides a framework for detecting hot-corino signatures toward luminous Class 0 YSOs, with fewer detections being observed toward similarly luminous Class I sources.

Starless cores represent the initial stage of evolution toward (proto)star formation, and a subset of them, known as prestellar cores, with high density (∼ 10 ^6 cm ^−3 or higher) and being centrally concentrated are expected to be embryos of (proto)stars. Determining the density profile of prestellar cores therefore provides an important opportunity to gauge the initial conditions of star formation. In this work, we perform rigorous modeling to estimate the density profiles of three nearly spherical prestellar cores among a sample of five highly dense cores detected by our recent observations. We employed multiscale observational data of the (sub)millimeter dust continuum emission, including those obtained by SCUBA-2 on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope with a resolution of ∼ 5600 au and by multiple Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations with a resolution as high as ∼ 480 au. We are able to consistently reproduce the observed multiscale dust continuum images of the cores with a simple prescribed density profile, which bears an inner region of flat density and an r ^−2 profile toward the outer region. By utilizing the peak density and the size of the inner flat region as a proxy for the dynamical stage of the cores, we find that the three modeled cores are most likely unstable and prone to collapse. The sizes of the inner flat regions, as compact as ∼ 500 au, signify them as being the highly evolved prestellar cores rarely found to date.

The Planck Galactic Cold Clumps (PGCCs) are possible representations of the initial conditions and very early stages of star formation. With the objective of understanding better the star and star cluster formation, we probe the molecular cloud associated with PGCC G108.37-01.06 (hereafter PG108.3), which can be traced in a velocity range of −57 to −51 km s−1. The INT Photometric Hα Survey images reveal Hα emission at various locations around PG108.3, and optical spectroscopy of the bright sources in those zones of Hα emission discloses two massive ionizing sources with spectral type O8−O9V and B1V. Using the radio continuum, we estimate ionizing gas parameters and find the dynamical ages of H ii regions associated with the massive stars in the range of 0.5–0.75 Myr. Based on the stellar surface density map constructed from the deep near-infrared Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope observations, we find two prominent star clusters in PG108.3; of these, the cluster associated with H ii region S148 is moderately massive (∼240 M⊙). A careful inspection of James Clerk Maxwell telescope 13CO (3–2) molecular data exhibits that the massive cluster is associated with a number of filamentary structures. Several embedded young stellar objects (YSOs) are also identified in PG108.3 along the length and junction of filaments. We find evidence of a velocity gradient along the length of the filaments. Along with kinematics of the filaments and the distribution of ionized, molecular gas and YSOs, we suggest that the cluster formation is most likely due to the longitudinal collapse of the most massive filament in PG108.3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]