DIFFRACTION-LIMITED 3.8 MICRON IMAGING OF PROTOSTELLAR OUTFLOW SOURCES

We used the new high spatial resolution observing mode of the Kitt Pea k near-IR Cryogenic Optical Bench on the 4 m telescope to detect and d etermine the locations of the powering sources of three protostellar o utflows. Diffraction limited images at 3.8 mu m of the cores of AFGL 4 37, L1287, and NGC 7129 demonstrate that, in each case, a young stella r object-WK 34, IRAS 00338+6312, and NGC 7129 PS 1, respectively-lies at the position predicted for the outflow source on the basis of near- IR polarimetric imaging at 2.2 mu m. WK 34 and NGC 7129 PS 1 display n ebulosity at 3.8 mu m, confirming that each illuminates an outflow cav ity. These data support the hypotheses that protostellar outflows are almost always associated with very young, heavily extincted sources, t hat associations of outflows with pre-main sequence stars are likely t o be incorrect, and that infrared polarimetric imaging is a dependable tool for probing reflection nebulae to locate embedded young stellar objects.