2008ApJ...675..420A

The G31.41+0.31 region hosts one of the most prominent hot molecular cores known. Coincident with the hot molecular core is an outflow whose orientation has been controversial. We report VLA-C observations of thermal methanol (7₀-6₁A⁺, 44 GHz) toward the position of the G31.41+0.31 hot molecular core. Our goals are to clarify the orientation of the outflow and to study the properties of a molecular outflow from a very young region of massive star formation. We confirm that the outflow is indeed associated with the hot molecular core. Our observations strongly suggest that the outflow is oriented in the northeast-southwest direction. The outflow is massive (≳15 M_☉), with a dynamical time of the order of ∼4x10³ yr, and has a wide-angle bipolar morphology.