Water maser kinematics in massive star-forming regions: Cepheus A and W75N

VLBI multi-epoch water maser observations are a powerful tool to study the dense, warm shocked gas very close to massive protostars. The very high-angular resolution of these observations allow us to measure the proper motions of the masers in a few weeks, and together with the radial velocity, to determine their full kinematics. In this paper we present a summary of the main observational results obtained toward the massive star-forming regions of Cepheus A and W75N, among them: (i) the identification of different centers of high-mass star formation activity at scales of 100 AU; (ii) the discovery of new phenomena associated with the early stages of high-mass protostellar evolution (e.g., isotropic gas ejections); and (iii) the identification of the simultaneous presence of a wide-angle outflow and a highly collimated jet in the massive object Cep A HW2, similar to what is observed in some low-mass protostars. Some of the implications of these results in the study of high-mass star formation are discussed.
Comment: Submitted to Bolet\'in de la Asociaci\'on Argentina de Astronom\'ia (BAAA), Vol. 54, AAA-SOCHIAS meeting (September 17-21, 2011)