The Binary Jet in L1551 IRS 5

Abstract

We have used the Very Large Array with the Pie Town antenna of the Very Long Baseline Array to image for the first time L1551 IRS 5 at 3.5 cm with an angular resolution of ~0.1". These observations clearly reveal the presence of a binary jet, with each component approximately centered on the 7 mm compact protoplanetary disks previously reported. As anticipated from results at various wavelengths, L1551 IRS 5 is a binary system where each star is surrounded by a disk and drives a collimated jet. The curved morphology of the northern jet, showing reflection symmetry, is suggestive of that expected for a source in a binary orbit.A region of radio emission located between the two jets could be a zone of shock interaction between the two outflows.