Near Infrared Mapping of Jets and Outflow Cavities Associated with Young Stellar Objects

Our current understanding of Herbig-Haro objects and their relationship with outflows and Pre-Main-Sequence objects is limited. Although the general mechanism of outflows is understood, the detailed questions concerning the outflowing material’s origin and the collimation mechanisms remain largely unanswered. The role of multi-waveband observations (visible, infrared and radio) is vital to our understanding of the shock dynamics of outflows. This paper discusses high spatial resolution near infrared maps of three outflow complexes, HH34, HH46/HH47 and HH54, made using the Anglo Australian Observatory’s infrared camera, IRIS. For the first time molecular hydrogen emission is observed associated with the edges of outflow cavities. In the cases of HH46/47 and to a lesser extent HH34 molecular emission is seen coincident with highly collimated jets feeding the outflow cavities.