Near-infrared and Millimeter-wavelength Observations of Mol 160: A Massive Young Protostellar Core

Abstract

We have discovered two compact sources of shocked H2 2.12-micron emission coincident with Mol 160 (IRAS 23385+6053), a massive star-forming core thought to be a precursor to an ultracompact HII region. The 2.12-micron sources lie within 2" (0.05 pc) of a millimeter-wavelength continuum peak where the column density is >= 10e24 cm\(^{-2}\). We estimate that the ratio of molecular hydrogen luminosity to bolometric luminosity is > 0.2%, indicating a high ratio of mechanical to radiant luminosity. CS J=2-1 and HCO\(^+\) J=1-0 observations with CARMA indicate that the protostellar molecular core has a peculiar velocity of ~ 2 km s\(^{-1}\) with respect to its parent molecular cloud. We also observed 95 GHz CH3OH J=8$-7 Class I maser emission from several locations within the core. Comparison with previous observations of 44-GHz CH3OH maser emission shows the maser sources have a high mean ratio of 95-GHz to 44-GHz intensity. Our observations strengthen the case that Mol 160 (IRAS 23385+6053) is a rapidly accreting massive protostellar system in a very early phase of its evolution.