Radio Continuum and Water Maser Observations of the High-mass Protostar IRAS 19035+0641 A

Abstract

We present Very Large Array 1.3 cm continuum and 22.2 GHz H _2 O maser observations of the high-mass protostellar object IRAS 19035+0641 A. Our observations unveil an elongated bipolar 1.3 cm continuum structure at scales ≲500 au, which, together with a rising in-band spectral index, strongly suggests that the radio emission toward IRAS 19035+0641 A arises from an ionized jet. In addition, eight individual water maser spots well aligned with the jet axis were identified. The Stokes V spectrum of the brightest H _2 O maser line (∼100 Jy) shows a possible Zeeman splitting and is well represented by the derivatives of two Gaussian components fitted to the Stokes I profile. The measured B _los are 123 (±27) and 156 (±8) mG, translating to a preshock magnetic field of ≈7 mG. Subsequent observations to confirm the Zeeman splitting showed intense variability in all the water maser spots, with the brightest maser completely disappearing. The observed variability in a 1 yr timescale could be the result of an accretion event. These findings strengthen our interpretation of IRAS 19035+0641 A as a high-mass protostar in an early accretion/outflow evolutionary phase.

Keywords

• Young stellar objects
• Water masers
• Radio jets