Feedback and accretion toward proto-O-stars at ALMA's highest resolution
I will present ALMA observations of the high-mass star-forming complex W51
in
which dozens of O-stars have already formed and many more OB stars are
vigorously accreting. We have used ALMA to probe scales from 200 AU to 0.5
pc
both toward the known proto-O-stars and in the surrounding protocluster
cloud.
These data have allowed us to compare the impact of different feedback
mechanisms on the formation of both low- and high-mass stars. We detect
dozens
of collimated outflows with lengths 0.03-0.5 pc, many of which originate in
barely resolved or even unresolved sources at 200 AU resolution, which
identify
the accreting massive stars. Where the central source is resolved in the
dust
continuum, it is elongated orthogonal to the outflow. Observations of
temperature probes reveal that regions within about 0.1 parsecs of these
high-mass protostars are significantly warmer than their surroundings,
reaching
temperatures of 100-200 K. The enhanced temperature only occurs around the
accreting proto-massive-stars, not around their main sequence colleagues or
nearby compact HII regions. These high-mass stars are able to maintain
their
food source by heating their surroundings, suppressing the fragmentation of
infalling and orbiting gas, thereby keeping it available for future
accretion.