The Morphology of M17-UC1 - A Disk Candidate Surrounding a Hypercompact HII Region

Abstract

We investigate the morphology and the evolutionary stage of the hypercompact HII region M17-UC1 using observations at infrared wavelengths and NIR radiative transfer modeling. For the first time, this region is resolved into two emission areas separated by a dark lane reminiscent of an obscuring silhouette of a circumstellar disk. So far, the observational data as well as model calculations suggest that M17-UC1 is surrounded by a disk of cool dust. This direct direct detection of a circumstellar disk candidate around a hypercompact HII region is in agreement with the expectations of the disk accretion model for high-mass star formation.

4 pages, 3 figures, ApJL emulate style (accepted 19 Jan. 2007) to appear in 2007 ApJ Letters 656, No. 2