A Face-on Accretion System in High-mass Star Formation: Possible Dusty Infall Streams within 100 AU

Abstract

Abstract We report on interferometric observations of a face-on accretion system around the high-mass young stellar object, G353.273+0.641. The innermost accretion system of 100 au radius was resolved in a 45 GHz continuum image taken with the Jansky-Very Large Array. Our spectral energy distribution analysis indicated that the continuum could be explained by optically thick dust emission. The total mass of the dusty system is ∼0.2 M ☉ at minimum and up to a few M ☉ depending on the dust parameters. 6.7 GHz CH3OH masers associated with the same system were also observed with the Australia Telescope Compact Array. The masers showed a spiral-like, non-axisymmetric distribution with a systematic velocity gradient. The line-of-sight velocity field is explained by an infall motion along a parabolic streamline that falls onto the equatorial plane of the face-on system. The streamline is quasi-radial and reaches the equatorial plane at a radius of 16 au. This is clearly smaller than that of typical accretion disks in high-mass star formation, indicating that the initial angular momentum was very small, or the CH3OH masers selectively trace accreting material that has small angular momentum. In the former case, the initial specific angular momentum is estimated to be 8 × 1020 ( M ☉) cm2 s−1, or a significant fraction of the initial angular momentum was removed outside of 100 au. The physical origin of such a streamline is still an open question and will be constrained by the higher-resolution (∼10 mas) thermal continuum and line observations with ALMA long baselines.