YCAA Seminar: “An extraordinary outburst in the massive protostellar cluster NGC6334I” - Crystal Brogan, NRAO

Event time: 
Tuesday, November 14, 2017 - 2:30pm to 3:30pm
Location: 
Watson Center (WTS), A51 See map
60 Sachem Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Event description: 

The evolutionary path that massive protostars follow in their youth, in particular how they manage to grow to large mass in a relatively short period of time still presents many open questions. I will present results from high angular resolution (0.2”, 250 au) multi-epoch centimeter to submillimeter wavelength data that trace the evolution of the extraordinary outburst that occurred in mid-2015 toward the massive protostellar cluster NGC6334I. In particular, I will describe the remarkable rise in dust and 6.7 GHz methanol maser emission, dramatic dimming of the free-free emission, and destruction of water masers toward the massive protostar MM1. Though evidence for episodic accretion is becoming commonplace toward low mass protostars, this outburst marks only the second large episodic accretion event observed toward a deeply embedded massive protostar to date. Thus, this event has much to teach us about the tumultuous lives of young massive protostars.