Description
Hyper-compact (HC) or ultra-compact HII regions are the first manifestations of the radiation feedback from a newly born massive star. Therefore, their study is fundamental to understanding the process of massive (>=8M_{sun}_) star formation. We employed Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) 1.4mm Cycle 6 observations to investigate at high angular resolution (~0.050, corresponding to 330au) the HC HII region inside molecular core A1 of the high-mass star-forming cluster G24.78+0.08. We used the H30{alpha} emission and different molecular lines of CH_3_CN and ^13^CH_3_CN to study the kinematics of the ionized and molecular gas, respectively. At the center of the HC HII region, at radii <~500au, we observe two mutually perpendicular velocity gradients, which are directed along the axes at PA=39{deg} and PA=133{deg}, respectively. The velocity gradient directed along the axis at PA=39{deg} has an amplitude of 22km/s/mpc, which is much larger than the other;s, 3km/s/mpc. We interpret these velocity gradients as rotation around, and expansion along, the axis at PA=39{deg}. We propose a scenario where the H30{alpha} line traces the ionized heart of a disk-jet system that drives the formation of the massive star (~20M_{sun}_) responsible for the HC HII region. Such a scenario is also supported by the position-velocity plots of the CH_3_CN and ^13^CH_3_CN lines along the axis at PA=133{deg}, which are consistent with Keplerian rotation around a 20M_{sun}_ star. Toward the HC HII region in G24.78+0.08, the coexistence of mass infall (at radii of ~5000au), an outer molecular disk (from <~4000 au to >~500au), and an inner ionized disk (<~500au) indicates that the massive ionizing star is still actively accreting from its parental molecular core. To our knowledge, this is the first example of a molecular disk around a high-mass forming star that, while becoming internally ionized after the onset of the HII region, continues to accrete mass onto the ionizing star.
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