THE jet/counterjet infrared symmetry of HH34 and the size of the jet formation region

Abstract

We present new Spitzer IRAC images of the HH34 outflow. These are the first images that detect both the knots along the southern jet and the northern counterjet (the counterjet knots were only detected previously in a long-slit spectrum). This result removes the problem of the apparent coexistence of a large-scale symmetry (at distances of up to ∼1 pc) and a complete lack of symmetry close to the source (at distances of ∼1017 cm) for this outflow. We present a quantitative evaluation of the newly found symmetry between the HH34 jet and counterjet, and show that the observed degree of symmetry implies that the jet production region has a characteristic size <2.8 AU. This is the strongest constraint yet derived for the size of the region in which HHjets are produced. © 2011. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..