A multi-wavelength interferometric study of the massive young stellar object IRAS 13481-6124

Abstract

We present new mid-infrared interferometric observations of the massive young stellar object IRAS 13481-6124, using VLTI/MIDI for spectrally-resolved, long-baseline measurements (projected baselines up to $\sim 120$ m) and GSO/T-ReCS for aperture-masking interferometry in five narrow-band filters (projected baselines of $\sim 1.8-6.4$ m) in the wavelength range of $7.5-13$ $\mu$m. We combine these measurements with previously-published interferometric observations in the $K$ and $N$ bands in order to assemble the largest collection of infrared interferometric observations for a massive YSO to date. Using a combination of geometric and radiative-transfer models, we confirm the detection at mid-infrared wavelengths of the disk previously inferred from near-infrared observations. We show that the outflow cavity is also detected at both near- and mid-infrared wavelengths, and in fact dominates the mid-infrared emission in terms of total flux. For the disk, we derive the inner radius ($\sim 1.8$ mas or $\sim 6.5$ AU at 3.6 kpc), temperature at the inner rim ($\sim 1760$ K), inclination ($\sim 48$ deg) and position angle ($\sim 107$ deg). We determine that the mass of the disk cannot be constrained without high-resolution observations in the (sub-)millimeter regime or observations of the disk kinematics, and could be anywhere from $\sim 10^{-3}$ to $20$ M${}_{\odot }$. Finally, we discuss the prospects of interpreting the spectral energy distributions of deeply-embedded massive YSOs, and warn against attempting to infer disk properties from the SED.

Accepted to Astronomy and Astrophysics

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• Parsec-scale jets driven by high-mass young stellar objects. Connecting the au- and the parsec-scale jet in IRAS 13481-6124
• A photoionized accretion disk around a young high-mass star
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• The onset of stellar multiplicity in massive star formation: A search for low-mass companions of massive young stellar objects with $L^{\prime }$-band adaptive optics imaging