Isotopic CO Images near the Young Triple Star GSS 30

Abstract

We present synthesized images of gas and dust associated with the nearby, low-mass core GSS 30, in the J = 1-0 line of 12C18O and 13C16O, and in 2.7 mm continuum emission. We detected a flattened core roughly orthogonal to the major axis of the bipolar infrared reflection nebula. The core has a mass of about 0.5 M☉ and size of 30'' × 20''. The molecular gas in the core forms a 2400 AU shell expanding at a speed of 0.7 km s-1. This region seems to represent a dense core disrupted by an episode of star formation in the recent past. The 2.7 mm continuum emission is detected toward the youngest component, IRS 3 (LFAM 1), of the three embedded sources. The continuum source remains unresolved at 89 × 46 resolution. The deconvolved size of 5'' sets an upper limit of 800 AU on the size of circumstellar material. Molecular gas emission does not peak at any of the known infrared sources. This suggests that the dust and gas may not evolve simultaneously in the star-forming cores.