The unusual morphology of the high-velocity gas in L723 : one outflow or two?

The molecular outflow in L723 in the CO J = 2-1 line was mapped. The unusual morphology of the flow which has been revealed in earlier CO J = 1-0 maps is very marked in the present data. The present maps of the emission integrated over the entire line wings reveal a striking quadrupolar morphology. It has been suggested that this structure could be due to two separate outflow sources which are virtually coincident or to a single, nonsteady source which is precessing. However, in the maps made of the more optically thin emission arising from only the higher velocity intervals in the line wings, the quadrupolar structure transforms into two continuous, roughly semicircular arcs, one on each side of the IRAS source 1915 + 1907. These arcs are interpreted to be the limb-brightened walls of evacuated cavities swept clear by a wind from the IRAS source. Consequently, it appears that L723 contains a single, rather conventional bipolar outflow with an axis oriented from northeast to southwest. 12 refs.