High-velocity molecular jets

The results of a radio mapping of the high velocity molecular gas in NGC 2071, GL 490, and S 140 in the J = 1-0 transition of CO at an angular resolution of 48 arcsec, and the J = 2-1 CO transition of gas in NGC 2071 and Orion at 23 arcsec resolution are reported. The sources in NGC 2071 and GL 490 were bipolar, with the 2071 outflows being collimated in two opposing jets. The magnitudes of the high velocity emissions were all functions of the velocities. The mean optical depths range from 1-5, with the Orion CO/C-130 line intensity being nearly 74, implying an isotopic intensity ratio close to terrestrial levels. The excitation temperature was 90 K in Orion, 15 K in the others, with the ambient gas clouds being at least as hot as the flow gases. The molecular outflows are judged to originate in a cavity swept out by a stellar wind; the configurations arise from the interaction of a collimated stellar wind with the surrounding stellar cloud. Instrumental resolution was not sufficient to observe the source object(s).