Pushing the Envelope: The Impact of an Outflow at the Earliest Stages of Star Formation

Abstract

We present new multiline and 3 mm continuum interferometer observations of the circumstellar environment within 2 × 104 AU of the class 0 protostar IRAS 05295+1247, the source of the RNO 43 outflow. The high-resolution molecular line and continuum images enable a thorough study of the circumstellar envelope, the molecular outflow, and its impact on the surroundings. We detect a highly collimated bipolar molecular outflow seen in the 12CO (1-0) map, which we interpret to be a new outflow episode, undetected in previous observations of the RNO 43 outflow. The medium-density gas of the outer circumstellar envelope, which is traced by the 13CO (1-0) emission, is accelerated over an extended volume and not confined to the narrow 12CO outflow axis. Our data also suggest that the outflow affects the chemical composition of the surroundings, enhancing the HCO+ (1-0) abundance along its edges. Most importantly, the kinetic energy injected by the outflow is sufficient to produce a velocity gradient in the dense inner circumstellar envelope traced by the C18O (1-0) and H13CO+ (1-0) emission. Such a strong perturbation to the envelope will clearly have an important effect on the mass-assembling process in IRAS 05295+1247.