We have observed the very low-mass Class 0 protostar IRAS 15398−3359 at scales ranging from 50 to 1800 au, as part of the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array Large Program FAUST. We uncover a linear feature, visible in H 2 CO, SO, and C 18 O line emission, which extends from the source in a direction almost perpendicular to the known active outflow. Molecular line emission from H 2 CO, SO, SiO, and CH 3 OH further reveals an arc-like structure connected to the outer end of the linear feature and separated from the protostar, IRAS 15398−3359, by 1200 au. The arc-like structure is blueshifted with respect to the systemic velocity. A velocity gradient of 1.2 km s −1 over 1200 au along the linear feature seen in the H 2 CO emission connects the protostar and the arc-like structure

The chemical diversity of low-mass protostellar sources has so far been recognized, and environmental effects are invoked as its origin. In this context, observations of isolated protostellar sources without the influence of nearby objects are of particular importance. Here, we report the chemical and physical structures of the low-mass Class 0 protostellar source IRAS 16544−1604 in the Bok globule CB 68, based on 1.3 mm Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations at a spatial resolution of ∼70 au that were conducted as part of the large program FAUST. Three interstellar saturated complex organic molecules (iCOMs), CH3OH, HCOOCH3, and CH3OCH3, are detected toward the protostar. The rotation temperature and the emitting region size for CH3OH are derived to be 131 ± 11 K and ∼10 au, respectively. The detection of iCOMs in close proximity to the protostar indicates that CB 68 harbors a hot corino. The kinematic structure of the C18O, CH3OH, and OCS lines is explained by an infalling–rotating envelope model, and the protostellar mass and the radius of the centrifugal barrier are estimated to be 0.08–0.30 M ⊙ and <30 au, respectively. The small radius of the centrifugal barrier seems to be related to the small emitting region of iCOMs. In addition, we detect emission lines of c-C3H2 and CCH associated with the protostar, revealing a warm carbon-chain chemistry on a 1000 au scale. We therefore find that the chemical structure of CB 68 is described by a hybrid chemistry. The molecular abundances are discussed in comparison with those in other hot corino sources and reported chemical models.

We report a study of the low-mass Class 0 multiple system VLA 1623AB in the Ophiuchus star-forming region, using H13CO+ (J = 3–2), CS (J = 5–4), and CCH (N = 3–2) lines as part of the ALMA Large Program FAUST. The analysis of the velocity fields revealed the rotation motion in the envelope and the velocity gradients in the outflows (about 2000 au down to 50 au). We further investigated the rotation of the circumbinary VLA 1623A disk, as well as the VLA 1623B disk. We found that the minor axis of the circumbinary disk of VLA 1623A is misaligned by about 12° with respect to the large-scale outflow and the rotation axis of the envelope. In contrast, the minor axis of the circumbinary disk is parallel to the large-scale magnetic field according to previous dust polarization observations, suggesting that the misalignment may be caused by the different directions of the envelope rotation and the magnetic field. If the velocity gradient of the outflow is caused by rotation, the outflow has a constant angular momentum and the launching radius is estimated to be 5–16 au, although it cannot be ruled out that the velocity gradient is driven by entrainments of the two high-velocity outflows. Furthermore, we detected for the first time a velocity gradient associated with rotation toward the VLA 16293B disk. The velocity gradient is opposite to the one from the large-scale envelope, outflow, and circumbinary disk. The origin of its opposite gradient is also discussed.

Cosmic rays are crucial to the chemistry of molecular clouds and their evolution. They provide essential ionizations, dissociations, heating, and energy to the cold, dense cores. As cosmic rays pierce through clouds they are attenuated and lose energy, which leads to a dependency on the column density of a system. The detailed effects these particles have on the central regions still need to be fully understood. Here, we revisit how cosmic rays are treated in the UCLCHEM chemical modeling code by including both ionization rate and H2 dissociation rate dependencies alongside the production of cosmic ray induced excited species and we study in detail the effects of these treatments on the chemistry of pre-stellar cores. We find that these treatments can have significant effects on chemical abundances, up to several orders of magnitude, depending on the physical conditions. The ionization dependency is the most significant treatment influencing chemical abundances through the increased presence of ionized species, grain desorptions, and enhanced chemical reactions. Comparisons to chemical abundances derived from observations show the new treatments reproduce these observations better than the standard handling. It is clear that more advanced treatments of cosmic rays are essential to chemical models and that including this type of dependency provides more accurate chemical representations.

Context. Protostellar jets are an important agent of star formation feedback, tightly connected with the mass-accretion process. The history of jet formation and mass ejection provides constraints on the mass accretion history and on the nature of the driving source. Aims. We characterize the time-variability of the mass-ejection phenomena at work in the class 0 protostellar phase in order to better understand the dynamics of the outflowing gas and bring more constraints on the origin of the jet chemical composition and the mass-accretion history. Methods. Using the NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA) interferometer, we have observed the emission of the CO 2–1 and SO NJ = 54–43 rotational transitions at an angular resolution of 1.0″ (820 au) and 0.4″ (330 au), respectively, toward the intermediate-mass class 0 protostellar system Cep E. Results. The CO high-velocity jet emission reveals a central component of ≤400 au diameter associated with high-velocity molecular knots that is also detected in SO, surrounded by a collimated layer of entrained gas. The gas layer appears to be accelerated along the main axis over a length scale δ0 ~ 700 au, while its diameter gradually increases up to several 1000 au at 2000 au from the protostar. The jet is fragmented into 18 knots of mass ~10−3 M⊙, unevenly distributed between the northern and southern lobes, with velocity variations up to 15 km s−1 close to the protostar. This is well below the jet terminal velocities in the northern (+ 65 km s−1) and southern (−125 km s−1) lobes. The knot interval distribution is approximately bimodal on a timescale of ~50–80 yr, which is close to the jet-driving protostar Cep E-A and ~150–20 yr at larger distances >12″. The mass-loss rates derived from knot masses are steady overall, with values of 2.7 × 10−5 M⊙ yr−1 and 8.9 × 10−6 M⊙ yr−1 in the northern and southern lobe, respectively. Conclusions. The interaction of the ambient protostellar material with high-velocity knots drives the formation of a molecular layer around the jet. This accounts for the higher mass-loss rate in the northern lobe. The jet dynamics are well accounted for by a simple precession model with a period of 2000 yr and a mass-ejection period of 55 yr.