ALMA's High-Resolution View of the Protostellar Cluster Serpens South: Outflow Activity and Continuum Sources

摘要

The study of embedded protostellar clusters is critical to understanding the complex environments where stars are most likely to form. During the star formation process, molecular outflows are generally understood to be necessary and ubiquitous, but quantifying their impact on the nearby protostars and the surrounding cloud remains a challenge. ALMA probes protostellar clusters on the scales of cores to clouds, and our ALMA Cycle I observations (using the 12 m and 7 m arrays) targeted the active protocluster Serpens South. Our previous findings for this region show that in this very young, low-mass star-forming cluster the outflows impart energy that sustains turbulence, and the outflows do not yet contribute enough energy to cause total disruption. ALMA Band 6 (230 GHz) observations of CO and continuum provide an unprecedented sub-arcsecond resolution and high-sensitivity view of outflow activity in the innermost regions of the cluster environment, characterizing outflows and their driving sources.