HOPS 361-C's Jet Decelerating and Precessing through NGC 2071 IR

We present a two-epoch Hubble Space Telescope study of NGC 2071 IR highlighting HOPS 361-C, a protostar producing an arced 0.2 parsec-scale jet. The proper motions for the brightest knots decrease from 350 to 100 km s(-1) with increasing distance from the source. The [Fe ii] and Pa beta emission line intensity ratio gives a velocity jump through each knot of 40-50 km s(-1). A new [O i] 63 mu m spectrum, taken with the German REciever for Astronomy at Terahertz frequencies instrument aboard Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, shows a low line-of-sight velocity indicative of high jet inclination. Proper motions and jump velocities then estimate 3D flow speed for knots. Subsequently, we model knot positions and speeds with a precessing jet that decelerates. The measurements are matched with a precession period of 1000-3000 yr and half opening angle of 15 degrees. The [Fe ii] 1.26-to-1.64 mu m line intensity ratio determines visual extinction to each knot from 5 to 30 mag. Relative to similar to 14 mag of extinction through the cloud from (CO)-O-18 emission maps, the jet is embedded at a 1/5-4/5 fractional cloud depth. Our model suggests the jet is dissipated over a 0.2 pc arc. This short distance may result from the jet sweeping through a wide angle, allowing the cloud time to fill cavities opened by the jet. Precessing jets contrast with nearly unidirectional protostellar jets that puncture host clouds and can propagate significantly farther.

Automated summary

This study presents a two-epoch Hubble Space Telescope observation of NGC 2071 IR, focusing on HOPS 361-C, a protostar that exhibits a curved jet with a scale of 0.2 parsecs. The proper motions of the knots in the jet decrease with increasing distance from the source, and the velocity jump through each knot is estimated to be around 40-50 km/s. The observations further suggest a precessing jet model with a precession period of 1000-3000 years and a half opening angle of 15 degrees.