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Context. Through spectrally unresolved observations of high-J CO transitions, Herschel Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) has revealed large reservoirs of warm (300 K) and hot (700 K) molecular gas around low-mass protostars. The excitation and physical origin of this gas is still not understood. Aims. We aim to shed light on the excitation and origin of the CO ladder observed toward protostars, and on the water abundance in different physical components within protostellar systems using spectrally resolved Herschel-HIFI data. Methods. Observations are presented of the highly excited CO line J = 16-15 (Eup/kB = 750 K) with the Herschel Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared (HIFI) toward a sample of 24 low-mass protostellar objects. The sources were selected from the Herschel "Water in Star-forming regions with Herschel" (WISH) and "Dust, Ice, and Gas in Time" (DIGIT) key programs. Results. The spectrally resolved line profiles typically show two distinct velocity components: a broad Gaussian component with an average FWHM of 20 km s-1 containing the bulk of the flux, and a narrower Gaussian component with a FWHM of 5 km s-1 that is often offset from the source velocity. Some sources show other velocity components such as extremely-high-velocity features or "bullets". All these velocity components were first detected in H2O line profiles. The average rotational temperature over the entire profile, as measured from comparison between CO J = 16-15 and 10-9 emission, is ~300 K. A radiative-transfer analysis shows that the average H2O/CO column-density ratio is ~0.02, suggesting a total H2O abundance of ~2 × 10-6, independent of velocity. Conclusions. Two distinct velocity profiles observed in the HIFI line profiles suggest that the high-J CO ladder observed with PACS consists of two excitation components. The warm PACS component (300 K) is associated with the broad HIFI component, and the hot PACS component (700 K) is associated with the offset HIFI component. The former originates in either outflow cavity shocks or the disk wind, and the latter in irradiated shocks. The low water abundance can be explained by photodissociation. The ubiquity of the warm and hot CO components suggest that fundamental mechanisms govern the excitation of these components; we hypothesize that the warm component arises when H2 stops being the dominant coolant. In this scenario, the hot component arises in cooling molecular H2-poor gas just prior to the onset of H2 formation. High spectral resolution observations of highly excited CO transitions uniquely shed light on the origin of warm and hot gas in low-mass protostellar objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Understanding the physical phenomena involved in the earlierst stages of protostellar evolution requires knowledge of the heating and cooling processes that occur in the surroundings of a young stellar object. Spatially resolved information from its constituent gas and dust provides the necessary constraints to distinguish between different theories of accretion energy dissipation into the envelope. Aims. Our aims are to quantify the far-infrared line emission from low-mass protostars and the contribution of different atomic and molecular species to the gas cooling budget, to determine the spatial extent of the emission, and to investigate the underlying excitation conditions. Analysis of the line cooling will help us characterize the evolution of the relevant physical processes as the protostar ages. Methods. Far-infrared Herschel-PACS spectra of 18 low-mass protostars of various luminosities and evolutionary stages are studied in the context of the WISH key program. For most targets, the spectra include many wavelength intervals selected to cover specific CO, H2O, OH, and atomic lines. For four targets the spectra span the entire 55-200 µm region. The PACS field-of-view covers ~47" with the resolution of 9.4". Results. Most of the protostars in our sample show strong atomic and molecular far-infrared emission. Water is detected in 17 out of 18 objects (except TMC1A), including 5 Class I sources. The high-excitation H2O 818-707 63.3 µm line (Eu/kB = 1071 K) is detected in 7 sources. CO transitions from J = 14-13 up to J = 49 - 48 are found and show two distinct temperature components on Boltzmann diagrams with rotational temperatures of ~350 K and ~700 K. H2O has typical excitation temperatures of ~150 K. Emission from both Class 0 and I sources is usually spatially extended along the outflow direction but with a pattern that depends on the species and the transition. In the extended sources, emission is stronger off source and extended on =10?000 AU scales; in the compact sample, more than half of the flux originates within 1000 AU of the protostar. The H2O line fluxes correlate strongly with those of the high-J CO lines, both for the full array and for the central position, as well as with the bolometric luminosity and envelope mass. They correlate less strongly with OH fluxes and not with [OI] fluxes. In contrast, [OI] and OH often peak together at the central position. Conclusions. The PACS data probe at least two physical components. The H2O and CO emission very likely arises in non-dissociative (irradiated) shocks along the outflow walls with a range of pre-shock densities. Some OH is also associated with this component, most likely resulting from H2O photodissociation. UV-heated gas contributes only a minor fraction to the CO emission observed by PACS, based on the strong correlation between the shock-dominated CO 24-23 line and the CO 14-13 line. [OI] and some of the OH emission probe dissociative shocks in the inner envelope. The total far-infrared cooling is dominated by H2O and CO, with the fraction contributed by [OI] increasing for Class I sources. Consistent with previous studies, the ratio of total far-infrared line emission over bolometric luminosity decreases with the evolutionary state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. The OH radical is a key species in the water chemistry network of star-forming regions, because its presence is tightly related to the formation and destruction of water. Previous studies of the OH far-infrared emission from low- and intermediate-mass protostars suggest that the OH emission mainly originates from shocked gas and not from the quiescent protostellar envelopes. Aims. We aim to study the excitation of OH in embedded low- and intermediate-mass protostars, determine the influence of source parameters on the strength of the emission, investigate the spatial extent of the OH emission, and further constrain its origin. Methods. This paper presents OH observations from 23 low- and intermediate-mass young stellar objects obtained with the PACS integral field spectrometer on-board Herschel in the context of the "Water In Star-forming regions with Herschel" (WISH) key program. Radiative transfer codes are used to model the OH excitation. Results. Most low-mass sources have compact OH emission (≲5000 AU scale), whereas the OH lines in most intermediate-mass sources are extended over the whole 47."0 × 47."0 PACS detector field-of-view (≳20 000 AU). The strength of the OH emission is correlated with various source properties such as the bolometric luminosity and the envelope mass, but also with the [OI] and H2O emission. Rotational diagrams for sources with many OH lines show that the level populations of OH can be approximated by a Boltzmann distribution with an excitation temperature at around 70 K. Radiative transfer models of spherically symmetric envelopes cannot reproduce the OH emission fluxes nor their broad line widths, strongly suggesting an outflow origin. Slab excitation models indicate that the observed excitation temperature can either be reached if the OH molecules are exposed to a strong far-infrared continuum radiation field or if the gas temperature and density are sufficiently high. Using realistic source parameters and radiation fields, it is shown for the case of Ser SMM1 that radiative pumping plays an important role in transitions arising from upper level energies higher than 300 K. The compact emission in the low-mass sources and the required presence of a strong radiation field and/or a high density to excite the OH molecules points toward an origin in shocks in the inner envelope close to the protostar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Water is a key tracer of dynamics and chemistry in low-mass star-forming regions, but spectrally resolved observations have so far been limited in sensitivity and angular resolution, and only data from the brightest low-mass protostars have been published. Aims. The first systematic survey of spectrally resolved water emission in 29 low-mass (L <40 Lʘ) protostellar objects is presented. The sources cover a range of luminosities and evolutionary states. The aim is to characterise the line profiles to distinguish physical components in the beam and examine how water emission changes with protostellar evolution. Methods. H2O was observed in the ground-slate 110-101 transition at 557 GHz (Eup/kB -∼ 60K) as single-point observations with the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared (HIFI) on Herschel in 29 deeply embedded Class 0 and I low-mass protostars. Complementary far-R and tub-mm continuum data (including PACS data from our programme) are used to constrain the spectral energy distribution (SED) of each source. H20 intensities are compared to inferred envelope properties, e.g., mass and density, outflow properties and CO 3-2 emission. Results. H2O emission is detected in all objects except one (TMCIA). The line profiles are complex and consist of several kinematic components tracing different physical regions in each system. In particular, the profiles are typically dominated by a broad Gaussian emission feature, indicating that the bulk of the water emission arises in outflows, not in the quiescent envelope. Several sources show multiple shock components appearing in either emission or absorption, thus constraining the internal geometry of the system. Furthermore, the components include inverse P-Cygni profiles in seven sources (nix Class 0, one Class 1) indicative of infalling envelopes, and regular P-Cygni profiles in four sources (three Class 1, one Class 0) indicative of expanding envelopes. Molecular "bullets" moving at ≳50 km s-1 with respect to the source are detected in four Class 0 sources; three of these sources were not known to harbour bullets previously. In the outflow, the H2O/CO abundance ratio an a function of velocity in nearly the name for all line wings, increasing from 10-3 at low velocities (<5 km s-1) to ≳ 10-1 at high velocities (>10 km s-1). The water abundance in the outer cold envelope in low, ≳10-10. The different H2O profile components show a clear evolutionary trend: in the younger Class 0 sources the emission in dominated by outflow components originating inside an infalling envelope. When large-scale infall diminishes during the Class I phase, the outflow weakens and H2O emission all but disappears. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims. Young stars interact vigorously with their surroundings, as evident from the highly rotationally excited CO (up to Eu/k = 4000 K) and H2O emission (up to 600 K) detected by the Herschel Space Observatory in embedded low-mass protostars. Our aim is to construct a model that reproduces the observations quantitatively, to investigate the origin of the emission, and to use the lines as probes of the various heating mechanisms. Methods. The model consists of a spherical envelope with a power-law density structure and a bipolar outflow cavity. Three heating mechanisms are considered: passive heating by the protostellar luminosity, ultraviolet irradiation of the outflow cavity walls, and small-scale C-type shocks along the cavity walls. Most of the model parameters are constrained from independent observations; the two remaining free parameters considered here are the protostellar UV luminosity and the shock velocity. Line fluxes are calculated for CO and H2O and compared to Herschel data and complementary ground-based data for the protostars NGC 1333 IRAS2A, HH 46 and DK Cha. The three sources are selected to span a range of evolutionary phases (early Stage 0 to late Stage I) and physical characteristics such as luminosity and envelope mass. Results. The bulk of the gas in the envelope, heated by the protostellar luminosity, accounts for 3-10% of the CO luminosity summed over all rotational lines up to J = 40-39; it is best probed by low-J CO isotopologue lines such as C18O 2-1 and 3-2. The UV-heated gas and the C-type shocks, probed by 12CO 10-9 and higher-J lines, contribute 20-80% each. The model fits show a tentative evolutionary trend: the CO emission is dominated by shocks in the youngest source and by UV-heated gas in the oldest one. This trend is mainly driven by the lower envelope density in more evolved sources. The total H2O line luminosity in all cases is dominated by shocks (>99%). The exact percentages for both species are uncertain by at least a factor of 2 due to uncertainties in the gas temperature as function of the incident UV flux. However, on a qualitative level and within the context of our model, both UV-heated gas and C-type shocks are needed to reproduce the emission in far-infrared rotational lines of CO and H2O. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water is a key molecule for tracing physical and chemical processes in star-forming regions. The key program "Water in star-forming regions with Herschel" is observing several water transitions towards low-mass protostars with HIFI. Results regarding the 557 GHz transition of water are reported here showing that the line is surpris- ingly broad, and consists of several different velocity components. The bulk of the emission comes from shocks, where the abundance is increased by several orders of magnitude to ~10-4. The abundance of water in the outer envelope is determined to ~10-8, whereas only an upper limit of 10-5 is derived for the inner, warm envelope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]