JWST Observations of Young protoStars (JOYS)

Abstract

Accretion and ejection dictate the outcomes of star and planet formation processes. The mid-infrared (MIR) wavelength range offers key tracers of processes that have been difficult to detect and spatially resolve in protostars until now. We aim to characterize the interplay between accretion and ejection in the low-mass Class I protobinary system TMC1, comprising two young stellar objects: TMC1-W and TMC1-E at a 85 au separation. Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) observations in 5 -- 28 mu m range, we measured the intensities of emission lines of H$_2$, atoms, and ions, for instance, the\ Fe II and Ne II and HI recombination lines. We analyzed the spatial distribution of the different species using the MIRI Medium Resolution Spectrometer (MRS) capabilities to spatially resolve emission at 0 scales. We compared these results are with the corresponding Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) maps tracing cold gas and dust. We detected H$_2$ outflow coming from TMC1-E, with no significant H$_2$ emission from TMC1-W. The H$_2$ emission from TMC1-E outflow appears narrow and extends to wider opening angles with decreasing from S(8) to S(1) rotational transitions, indicating the disk wind as its origin. The outflow from TMC1-E protostar shows spatially extended emission lines of Ne II Ne III Ar II and Ar III with their line ratios consistent with UV radiation as a source of ionization. With ALMA, we detected an accretion streamer infalling from $>$ 1000 au scaling onto the TMC1-E component. The TMC1-W protostar powers a collimated jet, detected with Fe II and Ni II making it consistent with energetic flow. A much weaker ionized jet is observed from TMC1-E, and both jets appear strikingly parallel to each other, indicating that the disks are co-planar. TMC1-W is associated with strong emission from hydrogen recombination lines, tracing the accretion onto the young star. MIRI-MRS observations provide an unprecedented view of protostellar accretion and ejection processes on 20 au scales. Observations of a binary Class I protostellar system show that the two processes are clearly intertwined, with accretion from the envelope onto the disk influencing a wide-angle wind ejected on disk scales. Finally, the accretion from the protostellar disk onto the protostar is associated with the source launching a collimated high-velocity jet within the innermost regions of the disk.