| Name: Manya Arora |
| Affiliation: Tata Instirute of Fundamental Research |
| Conference ID: ASI2026_664 |
| Title: Why Do Some Protostars Launch Molecular Jets? Insights from JWST IFU Spectroscopy |
| Abstract Type: Poster |
| Abstract Category: Stars, Interstellar Medium, and Astrochemistry in Milky Way |
| Author(s) and Co-Author(s) with Affiliation: Manya Arora(Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai - 400005, India), Himanshu Tyagi(Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai - 400005, India), Vinod Chandra Pathak(Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai - 400005, India), Manoj Puravankara and HEFE and IPA collaboration(Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai - 400005, India) |
| Abstract: Jets and winds are ubiquitous in young stars, particularly powerful in the youngest protostars. Recent high-resolution JWST observations have revealed a nested flow structure in many protostars: fast, highly collimated ionic jets (opening angle ≲ 5–10°, velocities ~150 km/s) surrounded by a slower (10–20 km/s), wide-angled (≳ 20–30°) molecular wind traced by H₂. However, a few protostars instead show fast, highly collimated molecular jets, whose origin remains unclear and actively debated.
We investigate this question using JWST NIRSpec and MIRI IFU observations of 15 Class 0 protostars in the Orion molecular cloud obtained as part of two JWST GO programs, High Angular Resolution observations of Stellar Emergence in Filamentary Environments (HEFE) and Investigating Protostellar Accretion(IPA). Three sources in our sample stand out as they exhibit fast, collimated H₂ molecular jets. We compare their protostellar, disk, and envelope properties with the rest of the sample and analyze outflow kinematics and energetics using rotational and position velocity diagrams to determine whether these molecular-jet sources are intrinsically distinct. We will present our results and discuss their implications for jet launching and the transition to molecular jet phases in young protostars. |
