Massive outflows driven by magnetic effects – II. Comparison with observations

Abstract The driving mechanism of massive outflows observed in high-mass star-forming regions is investigated using three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) and protostellar evolution calculations. In our previous paper, we showed that the mass outflow rate depends strongly on the mass accretion rate on to the circumstellar disc around a high-mass protostar, and massive outflows may be driven by the magnetic effect in high-mass star-forming cores. In this study, in order to verify that the MHD disc wind is the primary driving mechanism of massive outflows, we quantitatively compare outflow properties obtained through simulations and observations. Since the outflows obtained through simulations are slightly younger than those obtained through observations, the time-integrated quantities of outflow mass, momentum, and kinetic energy are slightly smaller than those obtained through observations. On the other hand, time-derivative quantities of mass ejection rate, outflow momentum flux, and kinetic luminosity obtained through simulations are in very good agreement with those obtained through observations. This indicates that the MHD disc wind greatly contributes to the massive outflow driving from high-mass protostars, and the magnetic field might significantly control the high-mass star formation process.