High Spatial Resolution Spectroscopy of W51 IRS 2E and IRS 2W: Two Very Massive Young Stars in Early Formation Stages

Abstract

We present K-band spectra of the near infrared counterparts to IRS 2E and IRS 2W which is associated with the ultracompact H II region W51d, both of them embedded sources in the Galactic compact H II region W51 IRS 2. The high spatial resolution observations were obtained with the laser guide star facility and Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS) mounted at the Gemini-North observatory. The spectrum of the ionizing source of W51d shows the photospheric features N III (21155 A) in emission and He II (21897 A) in absorption which lead us to classify it as a young O3 type star. We detected CO overtone in emission at 23000 A in the spectrum of IRS 2E, suggesting that it is a massive young object still surrounded by an accretion disk, probably transitioning from the hot core phase to an ultracompact H II region.