High-density gas in bipolar outflow sources and active galactic nuclei

Abstract

The highest density regions near the base of the outflow in young stellar objects with bipolar molecular outflows are discussed. Bright emission lines of Ca II and O I characterize the spectra and lead to estimates of n ~ 1010 cm−3, temperatures of a few thousand Kelvins, and mass motions of several hundred kilometres per second. Typically the rate of momentum transfer within this region fails by more than an order of magnitude to provide the force necessary to drive the molecular outflow on the parsec scale. The overall near-infrared spectra of these young stars are similar to those of certain active galactic nuclei having strong Fe II emission.A comparison is made between the Ca II and O I lines in the infrared core source of the bipolar H II region S106 and in the Seyfert galaxy Mrk 42. The spectra are shown to be scaled versions of each other, and we conclude that the physical conditions are broadly similar in the high-density emission-line regions of these two objects. The Ca II lines appear self-reversed in both objects, but possible Ca II absorption in the underlying galaxy in Mrk 42 compromises the detailed comparison of line shapes. Nevertheless, it is likely that the geometries and velocity fields are also analogous. Derived parameters of the emission-line regions in S106 and the Seyfert galaxies I Zw 1 and Mrk 42 are compared.