Abstract

Using the Very Large Array (VLA) in the A-configuration, we obtained a high-resolution 3.6 cm map of a hard X-ray source detected by the Chandra X-ray Observatory in a protostellar clump in Orion molecular cloud 3. Two radio continuum sources were detected in the vicinity of the X-ray source, both of which have NIR counterparts. We conclude that these VLA sources are free–free emission produced by shocks in protostellar jets from the NIR class I protostars. Using the centimeter data, we determined the power and orientation of the protostellar jets. The center position of the X-ray emission was found to be |$\sim 1 {{}^{\prime \prime }} \hbox{--} 2 {{}^{\prime \prime }}$| offset from the exciting sources of the jets, and the displacement is in the direction of the jets and molecular outflows. We discuss the nature of the X-ray emission as the shock-excited plasma at the shock front where the jet propagates through the interstellar medium at a speed of |$\sim 1000 \,\mathrm{km} \,\mathrm{s}^{-1}$|⁠.

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