[Previous] | [Session 134] | [Next]
J.M. De Buizer (Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory)
Hot molecular cores are believed to represent the earliest stages of massive stellar birth, however there are very few observations of these objects to date. The basic characteristics of hot molecular cores are: 1) they are compact sources seen in radio wavelength ammonia (or molecular line) images, 2) they lie in massive star forming regions near ultracompact HII regions, 3) they are too young and/or embedded to show signs of radio continuum emission themselves, 4) they are too embedded to be seen in the optical or near infrared, and 5) they are often coincident with water maser emission. Only a small number of sources exist that have had such extensive observations performed. I will present sub-arcsecond 18 micron images of three of these well-observed hot molecular cores. These observations were taken from the Gemini North telescope using the mid-infrared imager OSCIR. There were no detections of mid-infrared sources at the locations of two of these the hot molecular cores. A mid-infrared source was detected, however, at the location of the hot molecular core in G29.96-0.02. The results from these observations and their implications with respect to our present understanding of hot molecular cores will be discussed.