We present [S ii] images of the HH 30 and HL/XZ Tau region obtained at two epochs, as well as long-slit optical spectroscopy of the HH 30 jet. We measured proper motions of $100Y300 km s À1 for the HH 30 jet and counterjet and of $120 km s À1 for the HL Tau jet. Inclination angles with respect to the plane of the sky are 0 Y40 for the HH 30 jet and 60 for the HLTau jet. Comparison with previous observations suggests that most of the jet knots consist of persistent structures. Also, we corroborate that the HH 30-N knots correspond to the head of the HH 30 jet. The overall HH 30 jet structure can be well described by a wiggling ballistic jet, arising either from orbital motion of the jet source around a primary or from precession of the jet axis because of the tidal effects of a companion. In the first scenario, the orbital period would be 53 yr and the total mass 0.25Y2 M . In the precession scenario, the mass of the jet source would be $0.1Y1 M , the orbital period <1 yr, and the mass of the companion less than a few times 0.01 M , thus being a substellar object or a giant exoplanet. In both scenarios a binary system with a separation <18 AU (<0.13 00 ) is required. Since the radius of the flared disk observed with the HST is $250 AU, we conclude that this disk appears to be circumbinary rather than circumstellar, suggesting that the search for the collimating agent of the HH 30 jet should be carried out at much smaller scales.

Context. IC 1396N is a bright-rimmed cloud associated with an intermediate-mass star-forming region, where a number of HerbigHaro objects, H 2 jet-like features, CO molecular outflows, and millimeter compact sources have been observed. Aims. We study the complex structure of the IC 1396N core and the molecular outflows detected in the region in detail and reveal the presence of additional YSOs inside this globule. Methods. We carried out a deep survey of the IC 1396N region in the J, H, K broadband filters and deep high-angular resolution observations in the H 2 narrowband filter with NICS at the TNG telescope. The completeness limits in the 2MASS standard are K s ∼ 17.5, H ∼ 18.5, and J ∼ 19.5. Results. A total of 736 sources have been detected in all three bands within the area where the JHK images overlap. There are 128 sources detected only in HK , 67 detected only in K , and 79 detected only in JH. We found only a few objects exhibiting a near-infrared excess and no clear signs of clustering of sources towards the southern rim. In the case of triggered star formation in the southern rim of the globule, this could be very recent, because it is not shown through Near-Infrared imaging alone. The H 2 emission is complex and knotty and shows a large number of molecular hydrogen features spread over the region, testifying to recent starformation activity throughout the whole globule. This emission is resolved into several chains or groups of knots that sometimes show a jet-like morphology. The shocked cloudlet model scenario previously proposed to explain the V-shaped morphology of the CO molecular outflow powered by the intermediate-mass YSO BIMA 2 seems to be confirmed by the presence of H 2 emission at the position of the deflecting western clump. New possible flows have been discovered in the globule, and some of them could be very long. In particular, the YSO BIMA 3 could be powering an old and poorly collimated outflow.

The Trifid nebula is a young (10(5) years) galactic HII region where several protostellar sources have been detected with the infrared space observatory. The sources are massive (17 to 60 solar masses) and are associated with molecular gas condensations at the edges or inside the nebula. They appear to be in an early evolutionary stage and may represent the most recent generation of stars in the Trifid. These sources range from dense, apparently still inactive cores to more evolved sources, undergoing violent mass ejection episodes, including a source that powers an optical jet. These observations suggest that the protostellar sources may have evolved by induced star formation in the Trifid nebula.