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Jets and outflows are associated with young stellar objects across the stellar mass spectrum, from brown dwarf protostars to massive, Ae/Be stars. Frequently, the jet morphology is spatially discontinuous because of the temporal variability of the ejection from the driving source. Images covering a wide field of view around the jet driving-source are useful to map the large-scale jet emission and to explore the mass ejection history. The aim of this work was to search for large-scale optical Herbig-Haro (HH) objects lying in a wide field around a sample of IRAS sources, candidates to trace young stellar objects. Deep, narrow-band images through the H$\alpha$ and [SII] emission lines, and through an off-line continuum filter, covering a wide ($\sim15'$) field around the IRAS targets were acquired. The images in the three filters were analyzed to identify shock-excited line emission (i.e., HH) in contrast to scattered line emission. New images of a sample of fifteen IRAS sources, obtained in an homogeneous way are presented. HH emission was detected in six fields, and the astrometry of the knot features is given. The nature of the extended emission as scattered emission around nine of the IRAS targets is confirmed. For seven IRAS sources, with unclear optical counterpart, a more plausible counterpart is proposed. A refined value of the source distance is reported for seven targets. An update of the main data available for each of the sampled fields, including images from public data archives, is also presented., Comment: 20 pages. 49 figures Accepted to be published in A&A

The present work aims at studying the dense gas of the molecular cloud LDN 1287 (L1287), which harbors a double FU Ori system, an energetic molecular outflow and a still-forming cluster of deeply embedded low-mass, young stellar objects, showing a high level of fragmentation. We present optical Halpha and [SII], and VLA NH$_3$ (1,1) and (2,2) observations with an angular resolution of ~3.5''. The observed NH$_3$ spectra have been analyzed with the HfS tool, fitting simultaneously three different velocity components. The NH$_3$ emission from L1287 comes from four different structures: a core associated with RNO 1, a guitar-shaped core (the "Guitar") and two interlaced filaments (the Blue and Red Filaments) roughly centered towards the binary FU Ori system RNO 1B/C and its associated cluster. Regarding the Guitar Core, there are clear signatures of gas infall onto a central mass that has been estimated to be ~2.1 $M_\odot$. Regarding the two filaments, they have radii ~0.03 pc, masses per unit length ~50 $M_\odot$ pc$^{-1}$, and are near isothermal equilibrium. A central cavity, probably related with the outflow, and also traced by the Halpha and [SII] emission, is identified, with several young stellar objects near its inner walls. Both filaments show clear signs of perturbation by the high-velocity gas of the outflows driven by one or several young stellar objects of the cluster. The Blue and Red filaments are coherent in velocity and have nearly subsonic gas motions, except at the position of the embedded sources. Velocity gradients across the Blue Filament can be interpreted either as infalling material onto the filament or rotation. Velocity gradients along the filaments are interpreted as infall motions towards a gravitational well at the intersection of both filaments., Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

We present UV spectra of the protoplanetary nebula (pPN) Hen3-1475 obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Our deep, low-dispersion spectroscopy enables monochromatic imaging of Hen3-1475 in UV nebular emission lines, the first of such attempt ever made for a pPN. The high spatial resolution of STIS imaging allows an unprecedentedly sharp view of the S-shaped jet, especially the inner NW1 knot, which is resolved into four components in the MgII 2800 line emission. Through critical comparison with HST optical narrowband images, we found a negative radial velocity gradient in NW1, from -1550 km/s on its innermost component to about -300 km/s on the outermost. Despite their high radial velocities, these components of NW1 mostly show no obvious (or very small) proper motions, indicating that they might be quasi-stationary shocks near the tip of the conical flow along the collimated jet of Hen3-1475., Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters (ApJL); 6 pages, including 4 figures and 1 table

Observations of several protostellar jets show systematic differences in radial velocity transverse to the jet propagation direction, which have been interpreted as evidence of rotation in the jets. In this paper we discuss the origin of these velocity shifts, and show that they could be originated by rotation in the flow, or by side to side asymmetries in the shock velocity, which could be due to asymmetries in the jet ejection velocity/density or in the ambient medium. For typical poloidal jet velocities (~ 100-200 km/s), an asymmetry >~ 10% can produce velocity shifts comparable to those observed. We also present three dimensional numerical simulations of rotating, precessing and asymmetric jets, and show that, even though for a given jet there is a clear degeneracy between these effects, a statistical analysis of jets with different inclination angles can help to distinguish between the alternative origins of transverse velocity shifts. Our analysis indicate that side to side velocities asymmetries could represent an important contribution to transverse velocity shifts, being the most important contributor for large jet inclination angles (with respect the the plane of the sky), and can not be neglected when interpreting the observations., Comment: ApJ, in press

We present narrow-band optical and near-IR imaging and optical long-slit spectroscopic observations of Hu1-2, a Galactic planetary nebula (PN) with a pair of [N II]-bright, fast-moving (> 340 km/s) bipolar knots. Intermediate-dispersion spectra are used to derive physical conditions and abundances across the nebula, and high-dispersion spectra to study the spatio-kinematical structure. Generally Hu1-2 has high He/H (~0.14) and N/O ratios (~0.9), typical of Type I PNe. On the other hand, its abundances of O, Ne, S, and Ar are low as compared with the average abundances of Galactic bulge and disc PNe. The position-velocity maps can be generally described as an hour-glass shaped nebula with bipolar expansion, although the morphology and kinematics of the innermost regions cannot be satisfactorily explained with a simple, tilted equatorial torus. The spatio-kinematical study confines the inclination angle of its major axis to be within 10 degrees of the plane of sky. As in the irradiated bow-shocks of IC4634 and NGC7009, there is a clear stratification in the emission peaks of [O III], H_alpha, and [N II] in the northwest (NW) knot of Hu1-2. Fast collimated outflows in PNe exhibit higher excitation than other low-ionization structures. This is particularly the case for the bipolar knots of Hu1-2, with He II emission levels above those of collimated outflows in other Galactic PNe. The excitation of the knots in Hu1-2 is consistent with the combined effects of shocks and UV radiation from the central star. The mechanical energy and luminosity of the knots are similar to those observed in the PNe known to harbor a post-common envelope (post-CE) close binary central star., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS; 19 pages, 11 figures, 7 tables

DG Tau B is a Class I young stellar source that drives the asymmetric HH 159 bipolar jet. At optical wavelengths it is obscured by circumstellar optically-thick material. Using VLA and JVLA observations, we determine for the first time the proper motions of this source and find them to be consistent, within error, with those of the nearby young star DG Tau. We also discuss an ejection event that is evident in the 1994 VLA data. As the optical and molecular outflows, this ejection traced in the radio continuum is markedly asymmetric and was detected only to the NW of the star. We propose that this knot, no longer detectable in the radio, could be observed in future optical images of DG Tau B. The positions of the VLA source and of a nearby infrared object are not coincident and we suggest that the VLA source traces the exciting object, while the infrared source could be a reflection lobe., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in RevMexAA

We present new [SII] images of the HH 30 jet and counterjet observed in 2006, 2007, and 2010 that allowed us to measure with improved accuracy the positions and proper motions of the jet and counterjet knots. Our results show that the motion of the knots is essentially ballistic, with the exception of the farthest knots, which trace the large scale C-shape bending of the jet. The observed bending of the jet can be produced by a relative motion of the HH 30 star with respect to its surrounding environment, caused either by a possible proper motion of the HH 30 star, or by the entrainment of environment gas by the red lobe of the nearby L1551-IRS 5 outflow. Alternatively, the bending can be produced by the stellar wind from a nearby CTTS, identified in the 2MASS catalog. The proper motion velocities of the knots of the counterjet show more variations than those of the jet. In particular, we identify two knots of the counterjet that have the same kinematic age but whose velocities differ by almost a factor of two. Thus, it appears that counterjet knots launched simultaneously can be ejected with very different velocities. We confirm that the observed wiggling of the jet and counterjet arises from the orbital motion of the jet source in a binary system. Precession is of secondary importance in shaping the jet. We derive an orbital period $\tau_o=114\pm2$ yr and a mass function $m\mu_c^3=0.014\pm0.006$ $M_\odot$. For a mass of the system of $m=0.45\pm0.04$ $M_\odot$ (the value inferred from the disk kinematics) we obtain a mass $m_j=0.31\pm0.04$ $M_\odot$ for the jet source, a mass $m_c=0.14\pm0.03$ $M_\odot$ for the companion, and a binary separation of $a=18.0\pm0.6$ AU. This binary separation coincides with the value required to account for the size of the inner hole observed in the disk, attributed to tidal truncation in a binary system., Comment: Astronomical Journal, accepted

We present 3D hydrodynamical simulations of a jet launched from the secondary star of a binary system inside a proto-planetary nebula. The secondary star moves around the primary in a close eccentric orbit. From the gasdynamic simulations we compute synthetic [NII] 6583 emission maps. Different jet axis inclinations with respect to the orbital plane, as well as different orientations of the flow with respect to the observer are considered. For some parameter combinations, we obtain structures that show point- or mirror-symmetric morphologies depending on the orientation of the flow with respect to the observer. Furthermore, our models can explain some of the emission distribution asymmetries that are summarized in the classification given by Soker & hadar (2002)., Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, Accepted in Apj Letters

We present [SII] images of the HH 30 and HL/XZ Tau region obtained at two epochs, as well as long-slit optical spectroscopy of the HH 30 jet. We measured proper motions of about 100-300 km/s for the HH 30 jet and counterjet, and of about 120 km/s for the HL Tau jet. Inclination angles with respect to the plane of the sky are 0-40 deg for the HH 30 jet and 60 deg for the HL Tau jet. Comparison with previous observations suggests that most of the jet knots consist of persisting structures. Also, we corroborate that the HH 30-N knots correspond to the head of the HH 30 jet. The overall HH 30 jet structure can be well described by a wiggling ballistic jet, arising either by the orbital motion of the jet source around a primary or by precession of the jet axis because of the tidal effects of a companion. In the first scenario, the orbital period would be 53 yr and the total mass 0.25-2 solar masses. In the precession scenario, the mass of the jet source would be 0.1-1 solar masses, the orbital period <1 yr, and the mass of the companion less than a few times 0.01 solar masses, thus being a substellar object or a giant exoplanet. In both scenarios a binary system with a separation <18 AU (<0.13 arcsec) is required. Since the radius of the flared disk observed with the HST is about 250 AU, we conclude that this disk appears to be circumbinary rather than circumstellar, suggesting that the search for the collimating agent of the HH 30 jet should be carried out at much smaller scales., Comment: 42 pages, 7 figures, 5 tables. To Appear in The Astronomical Journal, Vol. 133 No. 6 (June 2007)

We present new results on the kinematics of the jet HH 110. New proper motion measurements have been calculated from [SII] CCD images obtained with a time baseline of nearly fifteen years. HH 110 proper motions show a strong asymmetry with respect to the outflow axis, with a general trend of pointing towards the west of the axis direction. Spatial velocities have been obtained by combining the proper motions and radial velocities from Fabry-Perot data. Velocities decrease by a factor ~3 over a distance of ~10$^{18}$ cm, much shorter than the distances expected for the braking caused by the jet/environment interaction. Our results show evidence of an anomalously strong interaction between the outflow and the surrounding environment, and are compatible with the scenario in which HH 110 emerges from a deflection in a jet/cloud collision., Comment: (1)Universitat de Barcelona; (2)UNAM; (3)UPC; (4)University of Hawaii; (5)Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope. 9 pages; 7 Figures Accepted by A&A