The Grandeur of Massive Star Formation Revealed with ISAAC

Abstract

We present selected results from our ongoing investigation of high-mass star-forming regions which are based on infrared observations with ESO's ISAAC camera at the 8.2-m ANTU VLT telescope. Although these young stellar objects comprise a high degree of complexity, our data enable us to disentangle these crowded regions. By means of broad- and narrow-band imaging between 1 - 5 micron we performed a thorough characterisation of the embedded population. Special emphasis was put on the importance of an accurate astrometry which has a major impact on the interpretation of the data. In the case of G9.62+0.19, we clarified the true nature of the infrared emission in the immediate vicinity of an hot molecular core (HMC). We unveil the counterpart of this HMC in the thermal infrared. For GGD27 IRS2, we found thermal emission at 3.8 and 4.7 micron caused by a deeply embedded object that is powering a large radio jet and has counterparts in our mid-infrared and VLA 7-mm data. The presented results mark a further step on the way to disclose the mechanisms of massive star formation. They demonstrate the value of sensitive infrared imaging with the current generation of IR cameras on 8-m-class telescopes.