IS SVS 13 THE EXCITING SOURCE OF THE HH 7-11 FLOW?

摘要

Since 1976 it has been believed that the Herbig-Haro (HH) objects 7-11 are excited by SVS 13, an infrared source located approximately along the line defined by this chain of nebulosities. It is well established that the exciting sources of HH flows are frequently detected in the centimeter continuum. When observed with high angular resolution, these radio sources appear as subarcsecond thermal jets that are elongated in the direction of the outflow axis. We present sensitive, high angular resolution VLA observations of the region that show radio continuum emission associated with SVS 13 but also reveal at about 6" to its southwest the presence of a second radio source previously undetected at other wavelengths. This source is better aligned with the axis defined by the HH 7-11 outflow and also exhibits an elongation along this axis. We favor this new object as the most likely exciting source of this classic HH system. However, high angular resolution molecular observations of the region are required to test this proposition.