Massive Protostars Traced by Methanol Masers

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The formation of massive stars occurs in obscured regions that are not accessible to optical studies. Radio continuum observations can probe the environments of massive protostars if the central object is sufficiently evolved to ionize its surroundings and produce a detectable compact or ultra-compact HII region (UCHII). However, at earlier evolutionary stages, radio continuum emission may not be detected and other tracers are needed. One such tracer is methanol masers, which are commonly detected in massive star-forming regions even in the absence of UCHII regions. We propose to observe five massive protostars that are traced by methanol masers. Four of these lack radio-detectable UCHII regions and are thought to be extremely young. We will use the high IRAC sensitivity and Spitzer's excellent pointing accuracy to determine if mid-IR sources are located at or near the methanol maser positions. These observations will provide observational constraints on the poorly understood process of methanol maser formation, and will test the idea that such masers are formed in protostellar disks. In addition, we will obtain information on the mid-IR properties of numerous lower mass pre-main sequence stars located near our massive protostar targets, as well as Herbig-Haro objects.

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