An ALMA-resolved View of 7000 au Protostellar Gas Ring around the Class I Source CrA-IRS 2 as a Possible Sign of Magnetic Flux Advection

Abstract

Transferring a significant fraction of the magnetic flux from a dense cloud core is essential in the star formation process. A ringlike structure produced by magnetic flux loss has been predicted theoretically, but no observational identification has been presented. We have performed ALMA observations of the Class I protostar IRS 2 in the Corona Australis star-forming region and resolved a distinctive gas ring in the C ^18 O ( J = 2–1) line emission. The center of this gas ring is ∼5000 au away from the protostar, with a diameter of ∼7000 au. The radial velocity of the gas is ≲ 1 km s ^−1 blueshifted from that of the protostar, with a possible expanding feature judged from the velocity-field (moment 1) map and position–velocity diagram. These features are either observationally new or have been discovered but not discussed in depth because they are difficult to explain by well-studied protostellar phenomena such as molecular outflows and accretion streamers. A plausible interpretation is a magnetic wall created by the advection of magnetic flux, which is theoretically expected in the Class 0/I phase during star formation as a removal mechanism of magnetic flux. Similar structures reported in the other young stellar sources could likely be candidates formed by the same mechanism, encouraging us to revisit the issue of magnetic flux transport in the early stages of star formation from an observational perspective.

Keywords

• Star formation
• Protostars
• Molecular clouds
• Interstellar medium
• Circumstellar envelopes
• Magnetic fields