OBSERVATIONS AND MODELING OF THE 2 – 25 μm EMISSION FROM HIGH MASS PROTOSTELLAR OBJECT CANDIDATES

This is a report on detailed modeling of young high-mass protostellar candidates during their most embedded and obscured phases. We performed narrowband mid-infrared imaging of three candidate high-mass protostellar objects in G11.94-0.62, G29.96-0.02, and G45.07+0.13 at Gemini Observatory using the Thermal-Region Camera and Spectrograph (T-ReCS). The sources were imaged through up to 11 narrowband filters, sampling their SEDs over the entire 2–25 μm infrared range. For the first time, we have fit the observed SEDs of massive protostars with models that take into account departures from spherical symmetry in the infalling envelopes. In this way, we have been able to back out of the models detailed physical parameters for these earliest stages of massive stellar life. Our detailed modeling suggests that massive star formation can proceed in a way very similar to the formation of low-mass stars. Subject headings: circumstellar matter — infrared: ISM — stars: formation — ISM: individual (G11.94-0.62, G29.96-0.02, G45.07+0.13) — stars: early type