A cobweb of filaments and protostars

We present high resolution (sub)mm continuum maps obtained with the bolometer UKT14 on the JCMT of the high mass star formation complex NGC 6334 I and I(N), the latter also known as Gezari’s cold source (Gezari 1982). The maps at 1.1 mm and 800 μm cover the whole northern part of the NGC 6334 complex (∼ 5′ × 8′), while the coverage is more limited at 450 μm and 350 μm and centered on NGC 6334 I(N). The strongest dust emission at all wavelengths originates from a compact source near or coincident with the Ultracompact HII region NGC 6334 F and the FIR–source and hot core region NGC 6334 I. The dust in NGC 6334 I is hot, Td ≥ 100 K, and we derive a total mass (gas + dust) of ∼ 200 M . We resolve Gezari’s cold source into a compact (deconvolved FWHM ∼ 10 ′′) dust source, which appears optically thick even at 1.1 mm. I(N) is embedded in a dense cloud core, ∼ 2.5′ × 1.5 ′, with a mass of ∼ 2200 M . I(N) is clearly a high–mass Class 0 object. It emits a large fraction of its luminosity in the sub–mm (Lbol ∼ 1.7 104 L ), it drives a molecular outflow and coincides with a CH3OH maser, suggesting that I(N) has already formed a hot accretion disk. We derive a total mass of 250–400 M , corresponding to an average gas density 1.6–2.6 107 cm−3 and a line of sight visual extinction of ≥ 2000, rendering it impossible to detect I(N) even in the thermal or mid–IR. We also find eight additional compact sub–mm sources. Some of these are probable high–to–intermediate mass protostars, some may be massive cold starless cloud cores that eventually will collapse to form stars. Our sub–mm maps also show a remarkable narrow, lumpy, linear filament, which has no optical or near–IR counterpart. This filament bounds the dust emission to the west and is at least 7′ (3.5 pc) in length with a width of ∼ 15 ′′–20 ′′. It breaks up into dense condensations with a separation of 3–4 times the width of the filament.