G11.92-0.61 MM 1: A fragmented Keplerian disk surrounding a proto-O star

Abstract

We present high resolution ($\sim$300 au) Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of the massive young stellar object G11.92-0.61 MM 1. We resolve the immediate circumstellar environment of MM 1 in 1.3 mm continuum emission and CH${}_3$CN emission for the first time. The object divides into two main sources - MM 1a, which is the source of a bipolar molecular outflow, and MM 1b, located 0.57'' (1920 au) to the South-East. The main component of MM 1a is an elongated continuum structure, perpendicular to the bipolar outflow, with a size of $0.141^{\prime \prime }\times 0.050^{\prime \prime }$ ($480\times 170$ au). The gas kinematics toward MM 1a probed via CH${}_3$CN trace a variety of scales. The lower energy $J=12-11$ $K=3$ line traces extended, rotating gas within the outflow cavity, while the $v$8=1 line shows a clearly-resolved Keplerian rotation signature. Analysis of the gas kinematics and dust emission shows that the total enclosed mass in MM 1a is $40\pm 5$ M${}_{\odot }$ (where between 2.2-5.8 M${}_{\odot }$ is attributed to the disk), while MM 1b is $<0.6$ M${}_{\odot }$. The extreme mass ratio and orbital properties of MM 1a and MM 1b suggest that MM 1b is one of the first observed examples of the formation of a binary star via disk fragmentation around a massive young (proto)star.

8 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letters