Abstract

Contributed Talk - Splinter SOFIA

Thursday, 14 September 2023, 16:30   (H 3006)

Investigation of periodic maser outbursts in young stars with SOFIA

Christian Andreas
Thüringer Landessternwarte

In recent years, accretion bursts of massive young stellar objects (MYSOs) were identified, that point towards the presence of circumstellar disks. At infrared wavelengths, the associated radiation may trigger flares of Class II methanol masers, which opens a new window to decipher the complex variability pattern in protostellar accretion. Here we present the first results of far IR measurements with the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) in two MYSOs. These exhibit periodic maser emissions, which hint at cyclic accretion, possibly caused by a stellar or high mass planetary companion.