THE POWERING SOURCES OF THE MOLECULAR OUTFLOWS IN THE AFGL-437, AFGL-5142, AND AFGL-5157 REGIONS

We present VLA 3.6 cm continuum and water maser observations toward the central region of three molecular outflows for which the position of the powering sources was not clearly established: AFGL 437, AFGL 5142, and AFGL 5157. In these regions, continuum and H2O maser emission has been detected near the peak of the associated high-density molecular cores. Our data indicate a close association between the molecular cores, the radio continuum sources, and the H2O masers. On the basis of these results we propose that the ionizing objects of the continuum sources, which can be ZAMS B-type stars, are also powering the molecular outflows.