DISCOVERY OF A DEEPLY EMBEDDED COMPANION TO LKH-ALPHA-234

We report the discovery of a deeply embedded young stellar object (YSO) 3'' northwest of the Herbig Ae/Be star LkHalpha 234. This source (PS 1) is not seen in optical or near-infrared images. However, its existence is revealed by our 2 mum polarization map which demonstrates that PS 1 partially illuminates a reflection nebula at the core of NGC 7129. PS 1 most likely is much less evolved than LkHalpha 234. PS 1 is very similar to a second deeply embedded object discovered recently in L1287 with the technique of infrared polarimetric imaging. These two YSOs may be representative of others that ultimately will be found hidden by dust near more evolved pre-main-sequence stars. Photometric observations centered on these pre-main-sequence stars have been presumed to represent flux from single stars surrounded by disks or other circumstellar structures. Models based on photometry, especially at mid-infrared wavelengths with large beams, therefore may have led to incorrect inerpretations. Also, in many of these cases, an optically visible source is assumed to be the exciting star of a known molecular outflow. Our new result suggests instead that such energetic phenomena may be generated by heretofore undetected, less evolved sources.