The Initial Physical Conditions of the Orion BN/KL Fingers

Abstract

Orion BN/KL is an example of a poorly understood phenomena in star-forming regions involving the close encounters of young stellar objects. The explosive structure, the great variety of molecules observed, the energy involved in the event, and the mass of the region suggest a contribution to the chemical diversity of the local interstellar medium. Nevertheless, the frequency and duration of other, similar events have not been determined. In this paper, we explore a recent analytic model that takes into account the interaction of a clump with its molecular environment. We show that the widespread kinematic ages of the Orion fingers—500 to 4000 yr—are a consequence of the interaction of the explosion debris with the surrounding medium. This model explains satisfactorily the age discrepancy of the Orion fingers, and infers the initial conditions together with the lifetime of the explosion. Moreover, our model can explain why some CO streamers do not have an associated H 2 finger.