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R. Indebetouw, C. Watson, K.E. Johnson, B. Whitney, E. Churchwell (U Wisconsin)
We use near-infrared imaging of massive star formation regions to investigate the protostellar content of the regions and make inferences about the role of accretion in the formation of massive stars. Excellent seeing with the WIYN telescope provides us with the high spatial resolution necessary to investigate crowded protoclusters. We present results from several recently observed regions, highlighting G192.16-3.82 (G192), a nascent B2 star with an energetic outflow. It is one of only a few massive protostars with evidence of a circumstellar accretion disk. New high resolution K'-band images of G192 show a 2.1um source near the radio-detected compact HII region. The source is very red (not detected at H-band), and neither ionized gas (Br-gamma emission) nor shocked gas (H2 emission) contributes strongly to the K'-band emission. If the 2.1um source is the extincted protostellar photosphere, then the circumstellar disk may have a central hole and/or a small scale height.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 35#5
© 2003. The American Astronomical Soceity.