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We present the results of a morphological study performed to a sample of Ultracompact (UC) HII regions with Extended Emission (EE) using Spitzer--IRAC imagery and 3.6 cm VLA conf. D radio-continuum (RC) maps. Some examples of the comparison between maps and images are presented. Usually there is an IR point source counterpart to the peak(s) of RC emission, at the position of the UC source. We find that the predominant EE morphology is the cometary, and in most cases is coincident with IR emission at 8.0 $\mu$m. Preliminary results of Spitzer--IRAC photometry of a sub-sample of 13 UC HII regions with EE based on GLIMPSE legacy data are also presented. Besides, individual IRAC photometry was performed to 19 UC sources within these 13 regions. We show that UC sources lie on specific locus, both in IRAC color-color and AM-product diagnostic diagrams. Counts of young stellar sources are presented for each region, and we conclude that a proportion of ~ 2%, ~10%, and ~88% of sources in the UC HII regions with EE are, in average, Class I, II, and III, respectively., Comment: 9 pages, 5 Figures, To be published in "A Long Walk Through Astronomy: A Celebration of Luis Carrasco's 60th Birthday", proceedings, Rev, Mex. AA SC. Work based in de la Fuente Ph. D. Thesis, 2007, University of Guadalajara, M\'exico

We are engaged in a multi-wavelength study of several Galactic HII regions that exhibit signposts of triggered star formation on their borders, and where the collect and collapse process could be at work. When addressing the question of triggered star formation it is critically important to ensure the real association between the ionized gas and the neutral material observed nearby. In this paper we stress this point, and present CO observations of the RCW 82 star forming region. The velocity distribution of the molecular gas is combined with the study of young stellar objects (YSOs) detected in the direction of RCW 82. We discuss the YSO's evolutionary status using near- and mid-IR data. The spatial and velocity distributions of the molecular gas are used to discuss the possible scenarios for the star formation around RCW 82., Comment: 17 pages, 20 figures. Accepted by A&A

We report the results of our third survey for formaldehyde (H2CO) 6cm maser emission in the Galaxy. Using the Very Large Array, we detected two new H2CO maser sources (G23.01-0.41 and G25.83-0.18), thus increasing the sample of known H2CO maser regions in the Galaxy to seven. We review the characteristics of the G23.01-0.41 and G25.83-0.18 star forming regions. The H2CO masers in G23.01-0.41 and G25.83-0.18 share several properties with the other known H2CO masers, in particular, emission from rich maser environments and close proximity to very young massive stellar objects., Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series

Aims: We wish to establish whether sequential star formation is taking place at the periphery of the Galactic HII region Sh2-212. Methods: We present CO millimetre observations of this region obtained at the IRAM 30-m telescope to investigate the distribution of associated molecular material. We also use deep JHK observations obtained at the CFHT to study the stellar content of the region, and radio observations obtained at the VLA to look for the presence of an ultra-compact (UC) HII region and for maser emission. Results: In the optical, Sh2-212 is spherically symmetric around its central exciting cluster. This HII region is located along a molecular filament. A thin, well-defined half ring of molecular material surrounds the brightest part of the HII region at the rear and is fragmented. The most massive fragment (~200 solar masses) contains a massive young stellar object displaying a near-IR excess; its spectral energy distribution indicates a high-mass (~14solar masses), high-temperature (~30000K), and high-luminosity (~17000 solar luminosities) source. This object ionizes a UC HII region. Conclusions: Sh2-212 is a good example of massive-star formation triggered via the collect and collapse process. The massive YSO observed at its periphery is a good candidate for a massive star formed in isolation., Comment: 12 pages, 14 figures. To be published in A&A

Near-infrared imaging surveys of high-mass star-forming regions reveal an amazingly complex interplay between star formation and the environment (Churchwell et al. 2006; Alvarez et al. 2004). By means of near-IR spectroscopy the embedded massive young stars can be characterized and placed in the context of their birth site. However, so far spectroscopic surveys have been hopelessly incomplete, hampering any systematic study of these very young massive stars. New integral field instrumentation available at ESO has opened the possibility to take a huge step forward by obtaining a full spectral inventory of the youngest massive stellar populations in star-forming regions currently accessible. Simultaneously, the analysis of the extended emission allows the characterization of the environmental conditions. The Formation and Early Evolution of Massive Stars (FEMS) collaboration aims at setting up a large observing campaign to obtain a full census of the stellar content, ionized material, outflows and PDR's over a sample of regions that covers a large parameter space. Complementary radio, mm and infrared observations will be used for the characterization of the deeply embedded population. For the first eight regions we have obtained 40 hours of SINFONI observations. In this contribution, we present the first results on three regions that illustrate the potential of this strategy., Comment: To appear in ASP Conf. Proceedings of "Massive Star Formation: Observations confront Theory", H. Beuther et al. (eds.), held in Heidelberg, September 2007

High resolution (0.15") Very Large Array observations of 7 mm continuum and H53a line emission toward the hypercompact H II region G28.20-0.04N reveal the presence of large-scale ordered motions. We find a velocity gradient of 1000 km/s/pc along the minor axis of the continuum source. Lower resolution (1.0"-2.3") radio recombination line observations indicate a systematic increase of line width from H30alpha to H92alpha. Under the assumption that the H30alpha line does not suffer significant pressure broadening, we have deconvolved the contributions of statistical broadening (thermal, turbulent, and pressure) from large-scale motions. The pressure broadening of the H53alpha, H76alpha, and H92alpha lines implies an electron density of 6.9E+06, 8.5E+05, and 2.8E+05 cm^(-3), respectively., Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, Accepted for publication in ApJ

We report observations of 6cm, 3.6cm, 1.3cm, and 7mm radio continuum, conducted with the Very Large Array towards IRAS18566+0408, one of the few sources known to harbor H2CO 6cm maser emission. Our observations reveal that the emission is dominated by an ionized jet at cm wavelengths. Spitzer/IRAC images from GLIMPSE support this interpretation, given the presence of 4.5um excess emission at approximately the same orientation as the cm continuum. The 7mm emission is dominated by thermal dust from a flattened structure almost perpendicular to the ionized jet, thus, the 7mm emission appears to trace a torus associated with a young massive stellar object. The H2CO 6cm maser is coincident with the center of the torus-like structure. Our observations rule out radiative pumping via radio continuum as the excitation mechanism for the H2CO 6cm maser in IRAS18566+0408., Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures, ApJ (in press)

Context. Massive-star formation triggered by the expansion of HII regions. Aims. To understand if sequential star formation is taking place at the periphery of the HII region Sh2-219. Methods. We present 12CO(2-1) line observations of this region, obtained at the IRAM 30-m telescope (Pico Veleta, Spain). Results. In the optical, Sh2-219 is spherically symmetric around its exciting star; furthermore it is surrounded along three quarters of its periphery by a ring of atomic hydrogen. This spherical symmetry breaks down at infrared and millimetre wavelengths. A molecular cloud of about 2000\msol lies at the southwestern border of Sh2-219, in the HI gap. Two molecular condensations, elongated along the ionization front, probably result from the interaction between the expanding HII region and the molecular cloud. In this region of interaction there lies a cluster containing many highly reddened stars, as well as a massive star exciting an ultracompact HII region. More surprisingly, the brightest parts of the molecular cloud form a `chimney', perpendicular to the ionization front. This chimney is closed at its south-west extremity by H-alpha walls, thus forming a cavity. The whole structure is 7.5 pc long. A luminous H-alpha emission-line star, lying at one end of the chimney near the ionization front, may be responsible for this structure. Confrontation of the observations with models of HII region evolution shows that Sh2-219 is probably 10^5 yr old. The age and origin of the near-IR cluster observed on the border of Sh2-219 remain unknown., Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures. To be published in A&A

We report high angular resolution, multi-epoch radio observations of the young pulsar PSR B1800-21. Using two pairs of data sets, each pair spanning approximately a ten year period, we calculate the proper motion of the pulsar. We obtain a proper motion of mu_alpha=11.6 +- 1.8 mas/yr, mu_delta=14.8 +- 2.3 mas/yr, which clearly indicates a birth position at the extreme edge of the W30 supernova remnant. Although this does not definitively rule out an association of W30 and PSR B1800-21, it does not support an association., Comment: 13 pages, 1 color figure. Replaced with version accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal

We report the detection of a new H2CO maser in the massive star forming region G23.71-0.20 (IRAS 18324-0820), i.e., the fifth region in the Galaxy where H2CO maser emission has been found. The new H2CO maser is located toward a compact HII region, and is coincident in velocity and position with 6.7 GHz methanol masers and with an IR source as revealed by Spitzer/IRAC GLIMPSE data. The coincidence with an IR source and 6.7 GHz methanol masers suggests that the maser is in close proximity to an embedded massive protostar. Thus, the detection of H2CO maser emission toward G23.71-0.20 supports the trend that H2CO 6cm masers trace molecular material very near young massive stellar objects., Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters

We review the phenomenon of ultra-compact H II regions (UCHIIs) as a key phase in the early lives of massive stars. This most visible manifestation of massive star formation begins when the Lyman continuum output from the massive young stellar object becomes sufficient to ionize the surroundings from which it was born. Knowledge of this environment is gained through an understanding of the morphologies of UCHII regions and we examine the latest developments in deep radio and mid-IR imaging. SPITZER data from the GLIMPSE survey are an important new resource in which PAH emission and the ionizing stars can be seen. We review the role played by strong stellar winds from the central stars in sweeping out central cavities and causing the limb-brightened appearance. A range of evidence from velocity structure, proper motions, the molecular environment and recent hydrodynamical modeling indicates that cometary UCHII regions require a combination of champagne flow and bow shock motion. Finally, we discuss the class of hyper-compact H II regions or broad recombination line objects. They are likely to mark the transition soon after the breakout of the Lyman continuum radiation from the young star. Models for these objects are presented, including photo-evaporating disks and ionized accretion flows that are gravitationally trapped. Evolutionary scenarios tracing young massive stars passage through these ionized phases are discussed., Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, to appear in Protostars and Planets V, Edited by B. Reipurth, D. Jewitt, and K. Keil, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 2006

We mapped 12 massive protostellar candidates in the CO J=2-1 line, which in combination with Zhang et al. (2005) completes an unbiased survey of outflows for all 48 sources with l>50^o in a sample of 101 massive protostellar candidates. We detected outflows in 10 sources, implying 88% occurrence frequency of outflows for the 48 sources. This supports the conclusion of previous studies that bipolar outflows are an integral component in the formation process of massive stars. The vast majority of the observed outflows are much more massive (>10~Mo) and energetic (>100~Mo~km/s) than outflows from low-mass protostars. They also have large mass outflow rates (>2x10^{-4}~Mo/yr), suggesting large (~1x10^{-4}~Mo/yr) accretion rates sufficient to overcome radiation pressure of the central massive protostars. We compared the frequency distribution of collimation factors of 40 massive outflows including those of this study with that of 36 low-mass outflows from the literature, and found NO significant difference between the two. All these results are consistent with the suggestion that massive stars form through accretion as do low-mass stars but with much higher accretion rates., Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, Accepted by ApJ

We present a survey in the 6_{16}-5_{23} rotational water transition toward 33 galactic ultracompact HII regions. Maser emission is detected toward 18 of these sources; two are new detections. High quality spectra are provided for all 18 sources. We discuss the detection rate of this survey and the correlation of various maser properties with other physical parameters. In addition, we report wide-bandwidth (316 km/s), moderate-resolution (~ 3'') water maser observations of the HH80-81 region. We report the first detection of water maser emission at the approximate velocity of the molecular core. This emission is coincident with the extreme tip of the thermal jet, and well-removed from the much stronger and well-known maser emission at the position of VLA-3., Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by Astronomical Journal

We present high angular resolution (~ 1''), sensitive CO(2-1) line observations of the region OMC1 South in the Orion Nebula made using the Submillimeter Array (SMA). We detect the CO(2-1) high velocity outflow that was first found by Rodriguez-Franco et al. (1999a) with the IRAM 30 m. Our observations resolve the outflow, whose velocity-integrated emission has a deconvolved width of 0.89'' \pm 0.06'' (490 AU) and a projected length of ~ 48'' (21,000 AU) with very high redshifted and blueshifted gas with velocities of about \pm 80 km/s. This outflow is among the most collimated (~ 3 degrees) and youngest outflows (600 yr) that have been reported. The data show that this collimated outflow has been blowing in the same direction during the last 600 yr. At high velocities, the CO(2-1) outflow traces an extremely collimated jet, while at lower velocities the CO emission traces an envelope possibly produced by entrainment of ambient gas. Furthermore, we also detect for the first time a millimeter wavelength continuum source possibly associated with a class I protostar that we suggest could be the possible exciting source for this collimated outflow. However, the bolometric luminosity of this source appears to be far too low to account for the powerful molecular outflow., Comment: Submitted to Astrophysical Journal (Letters)

We have used the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) to make observations of a sample of eight young ultra-compact HII regions, selected on the basis that they have associated class II methanol maser emission. We have made observations sensitive to both compact and extended structures and find both to be present in most sources. The scale of the extended emission in our sample is in general less than that observed towards samples based on IRAS properties, or large single-dish flux densities. Our observations are consistent with a scenario where extended and compact radio continuum emission coexists within HII regions for a significant period of time. We suggest that these observations are consistent with a model where HII evolution takes place within hierarchically structured molecular clouds. This model is the subject of a companion paper (Shabala et al. 2005) and addresses both the association between compact and extended emission and UCHII region lifetime problem., Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We have observed the massive star forming region associated with the early B protostar G192.16-3.84 in NH3(1,1), 22.2 GHz water masers, 1.3 cm continuum emission, and at 850 microns. The dense gas associated with G192.16 is clumpy, optically thin, and has a mass of 0.9 Msun. The ammonia core is gravitationally unstable which may signal that the outflow phase of this system is coming to an end. Water masers trace an ionized jet 0.8" (1600 AU at a distance of 2 kpc) north of G192.16. Masers are also located within 500 AU of G192.16, their velocity distribution is consistent with but does not strongly support the interpretation that the maser emission arises in a 1000 AU rotating disk centered on G192.16. Roughly 30" south of G192.16 (0.3 pc) is a compact, optically thick (optical depth = 1.2) ammonia core (called G192 S3) with an estimated mass of 2.6 Msun. Based on the presence of 850 micron and 1.2 mm continuum emission, G192 S3 probably harbors a very young, low-mass protostar or proto-cluster. The dense gas in the G192 S3 core is likely to be gravitationally bound and may represent the next site of star formation in this region., Comment: Astrophysical Journal, in press. 20 pages plus 8 figures (jpg format). See http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/~dshepher/science.shtml for reprint with full resolution figures

We report simultaneous H110alpha and H2CO line observations with the NRAO Green Bank Telescope toward 72 H II regions in the SPITZER/GLIMPSE survey area (|l| = 10 deg - 65 deg and |b|

High resolution 7 mm observations of the W49N massive star forming region have detected recombination line emission from the individual ultracompact (UC) HII regions on 50 milliarcsecond (600 AU) scales. These line observations, combined with multifrequency, high-resolution continuum imaging of the region at 7 mm (VLA) and at 3 mm and 1 mm (BIMA), indicate that five to seven of the eighteen ultracompact sources in W49N are broad recombination line objects (BRLOs) as described by Jaffe & Martin-Pintado (1999). BRLOs have both broad radio recombination lines ($\Delta$V$>$60 \kms) and rising spectra (S$_{\nu}\sim\nu^{\alpha}$), with $\alpha$ values greater than 0.4. The broad line widths of the H52$\alpha$ line are probably related to motions in the ionized gas rather than pressure broadening. A number of models have been proposed to explain the long lifetime of UC HII regions, including the photoevaporated disk model proposed by Hollenbach et al. (1994). This model can also explain the broad lines, rising spectra and bipolar morphologies of some sources. We suggest$-$based on line and continuum observations as well as source morphology$-$that in a subset of the W49N ultracompact sources we may be observing ionized winds that arise from circumstellar disks., Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, to appear in The Astrophysical Journal (v. 600, no. 1), 1 January 2004

We have observed the W75 N massive star forming region in SiO(J=2-1 & J=1-0) at 3" - 5" resolution and in 6 cm, 2 cm, and 7 mm continuum emission at 1.4" - 0.2" resolution. The abundance ratio of [SiO]/[H2] is roughly 5-7 x 10^-11 which is typical for what is expected in the ambient component of molecular clouds with active star formation. The SiO morphology is diffuse and centered on the positions of the ultracompact HII regions - no collimated, neutral jet was discovered. The ionized gas surrounding the protostars have emission measures ranging from 1-15 x 10^6 pc cm^-6, densities from 0.4-5 x 10^4 cm^-3, and derived spectral types of the central ionizing stars ranging from B0.5 to B2. Most of the detected sources have spectral indicies which suggest optically thin to moderately optically thick HII regions produced by a central ionizing star. The spread in ages between the oldest and youngest early-B protostars in the W75 N cluster is 0.1-5 x 10^6 years. This evolutionary timescale for W75 N is consistent with that found for early-B stars born in clusters forming more massive stars (Mstar > 25 Msun)., Comment: Astrophysical Journal, in press. 11 pages plus 6 figures (jpg format). See http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/~dshepher/science.shtml for reprint with full resolution figures

We re-examine the nature of NGC2024-IRS2 in light of the recent discovery of the late O-type star, IRS2b, located 5 arcsec from IRS2. Using L-band spectroscopy, we set a lower limit of Av = 27.0 mag on the visual extinction towards IRS2. Arguments based on the nature of the circumstellar material, favor an Av of 31.5 mag. IRS2 is associated with the UCHII region G206.543-16.347 and the infrared source IRAS 05393-0156. We show that much of the mid-infrared emission towards IRS2, as well as the far infrared emission peaking at ~ 100 micron, do not originate in the direct surroundings of IRS2, but instead from an extended molecular cloud. Using new K-, L- and L'-band spectroscopy and a comprehensive set of infrared and radio continuum measurements from the literature, we apply diagnostics based on the radio slope, the strength of the infrared hydrogen recombination lines, and the presence of CO band-heads to constrain the nature and spatial distribution of the circumstellar material of IRS2. Using simple gaseous and/or dust models of prescribed geometry, we find strong indications that the infrared flux originating in the circumstellar material of IRS2 is dominated by emission from a dense gaseous disk with a radius of about 0.6 AU. At radio wavelengths the flux density distribution is best described by a stellar wind recombining at a radius of about 100 AU. Although NGC2024/IRS2 shares many similarities with BN-like objects, we do not find evidence for the presence of a dust shell surrounding this object. Therefore, IRS2 is likely more evolved., Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

We present new high resolution and high sensitivity multi-frequency VLA radio continuum observations of the G9.62+0.19-F hot molecular core. We detect for the first time faint centimetric radio continuum emission at the position of the core. The centimetric continuum spectrum of the source is consistent with thermal emission from ionised gas. This is the first direct evidence that a newly born massive star is powering the G9.62+0.19-F hot core., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figs, A&A Letters, in press