Properties and Formation of the Multiple Protostellar System L1551 IRS 5

Abstract

We present an observation of L1551 IRS 5 at 7 mm with an angular resolution as high as ~0.04" (5 AU). Apart from the two main components oriented north-south with a projected separation of 47 AU, we discover a third component lying 13 AU to the southeast of the northern component, thereby making L1551 IRS 5 a triple protostellar system. The two main components comprise circumstellar dust disks with dimensions of ~17 AU, together with bipolar ionized jets collimated within a radial distance of