High mass star formation in the IRAS 17233-3606 region: a new nearby and bright hot core in the southern sky
Abstract
We present molecular line observations of the massive star forming region IRAS 17233-3606 aimed at studying the molecular core associated with the source. The observations were made using the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment telescope in the CO (3-2) and HCO+ (4-3) transitions, and in the CH3OH (6K-5K), (7K-6K) and CH3CN (16K-15K) bands. For the CO(3-2) and HCO+ (4-3) transitions, we obtained maps with a size of 70''× 70''. The typical angular resolution of the data is ~18''. Our observations reveal an exceptionally rich molecular spectrum, a signpost of hot core activity. Comparisons with two other prominent southern hot cores were made through observations in the same frequency setups. We also detected a bipolar outflow in CO (3-2) and HCO+ (4-3) lines. Modelling reveals a hot core of size ~3'' and a temperature of 150 K in the IRAS17233-3606 region. The parameters of the molecular outflow are derived through the analysis of the CO (3-2) emission, and are typical of outflows driven by high-mass young stellar objects.