2011AJ....141...72F

The GGD27 complex includes the HH 80-81-80N system, which is one of the most powerful molecular outflows associated with a high-mass star-forming region observed to date. This outflow is powered by the star associated with the source IRAS 18162-2048. Here, we report on the detection of continuum emission at subarcsec/arcsec resolution with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) at 1.36 mm and 456 µm, respectively. We detected dust emission arising from two compact cores, MM1 and MM2, separated by about 7'' (∼12,000 AU in projected distance). MM1 spatially coincides with the powerful thermal radio continuum jet that powers the very extended molecular outflow, while MM2 is associated with the protostar that drives the compact molecular outflow recently found in this region. High angular resolution observations at 1.36 mm show that MM1 is unresolved and that MM2 splits into two subcomponents separated by ∼1''. The mass of MM1 is about 4 M_☉ and it has a size of ≲300 AU. This is consistent with MM1 being associated with a massive and dense (n(H₂) ≳ 10⁹/cm3) circumstellar dusty disk surrounding a high-mass protostar, which has not yet developed a compact H II region. On the other hand, the masses of the two separate components of MM2 are about 2 M_☉each. One of these components is a compact core with an intermediate-mass young protostar inside and the other component is probably a prestellar core. MM1 is the brightest source at 1.36 mm, while MM2 dominates the emission at 456 µm. These are the only (sub)millimeter sources detected in the SMA observations. Hence, it seems that both sources may contribute significantly to the bolometric luminosity of the region. Finally, we argue that the characteristics of these two sources indicate that MM2 is probably in an earlier evolutionary stage than MM1.