Radiation-hydrodynamical simulations of massive star formation using Monte Carlo radiative transfer – II. The formation of a 25 solar-mass star

Abstract

We present a numerical simulation of the formation of a massive star using Monte- Carlo-based radiation hydrodynamics (RHD). The star forms via stochastic disc accretion and produces fast, radiation-driven bipolar cavities. We find that the evolution of the infall rate (considered to be the mass flux across a 1500 au spherical boundary), and the accretion rate onto the protostar, are broadly consistent with observational constraints. After 35kyr the star has a mass of 25 solar masses and is surrounded by a disc of mass 7 solar masses and 1500 au radius, and we find that the velocity field of the disc is close to Keplerian. Once again these results are consistent with those from recent high-resolution studies of discs around forming massive stars. Synthetic imaging of the RHD model shows good agreement with observations in the near- and far-IR, but may be in conflict with observations that suggests that MYSOs are typically circularly symmetric on the sky at 24.5 microns. Molecular line simulations of a CH3CN transition compare well with observations in terms of surface brightness and line width, and indicate that it should be possible to reliably extract the protostellar mass from such observations.