The Physics of Shocked Outflows In Star Forming Molecular Clouds

Abstract

Recent near-IR imaging of the Orion molecular cloud has revealed a complex of dense bullets, visible as [FeII] emitting HH-objects at the tips of H2 wakes, ejected explosively from the cloud core. Having resolved individual bow-shock structures for the first time in this bright source, we have observed [FeII] 1.644um velocity profiles of selected bullets and H2 1-0 S(1), 2.122um velocity profiles for a series of positions along and across the corresponding bow-shock wakes. We present observed profiles for the bullet M42 HH1 and its associated wake and compare with theoretical bow-shock models.