NARROW-LINE CO EMISSION FROM A MOLECULAR CLOUD WITH STAR FORMATION SONIC LINEWIDTHS FROM A STAR-FORMING REGION

the study of linewidths of the molecular gas with a range in spatial and density scales is important in understanding the dynamical inter action between the center of star forming activity (in our case a fir source) and the surrounding gas, and as such provides essential infor mation for star formation theory. measured linewidths are virtually always suprathermal and supersonic; only observations in dense cores of lines that trace higher densities (like nh3, hc3n) sometimes show linewidths of the order of the thermal width. on the other hand, observations on a largerscale of the surrounding gas (e.g. co) show lines dominated by nonthermal motions. the origins of these are still not completely understood, but they are in part due to the combined effects of stellar winds, outflows, and sn explosions stirring up the gas. typical co linewidths in regions of star formation are of the order of 35 km/s or more. this proposal concerns a molecular cloud with embedded massive star formation (iras23004+5642, or wb234 for short) where a strong and very narrow co line has been detected with iram (24 k, 1.02 km/s). the line has approximately sonic width, which is exceptional, especially because an h2o maser has been detected towards this source. this confirms the identification of wb234 as a star formation center, and makes this an intriguing object to study. iso allows us to penetrate the cloud in which the fir source is embedded, and to study its immediate surroundings (using lws, phot and cam). together with the intended groundbased observations this will provide us with a solid framework of data which should allow us to shed light on this remarkable object. truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]