Scientific Highlights with the SMA

The Reflection-Symmetric Wiggle of the Young Protostellar Jet HH211

The SMA is a very powerful tool for studying star and planet forming regions. A variety of observational projects have been carried out in ASIAA. In the earliest phase of star formation, gas and dust are seen ejected supersonically from protostars, forming bipolar jets such as that seen in HH 211. As seen from the figure, SiO, CO, and SO can all be a good tracer of the jet. The jet is clearly seen on both sides of the source with more than one cycle of wiggle. The wiggle is reflection-symmetric about the source and can be reasonably fitted by an orbiting source jet model. The continuum emission is spatially resolved into two, with the brighter one associated with the source that drives the jet.

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The HH211 molecular jet imaged with the SMA at 0.3” resolution. The CO, SiO, SO, and 0.85 mm continuum are red, green, blue, and orange (contours), respectively (Lee et al. 2010, ApJ, 713, 731).