Near-infrared and submillimeter observations of IRAS 18148-0440 in the
Lynds 483 dark cloud are presented. The near-infrared images show neb
ulous emission extending up to similar to 60'' from the IRAS position.
The IRAS source is not directly detected at any wavelength and is obs
cured by more than 70 mag of visual extinction, Submillimeter continuu
m measurements indicate the presence of similar to 0.3 M. of material
within about 1900 AU of the central star. At 2.2 mu m the near-infrare
d nebula is bipolar with approximately cylindrical lobes which extend
east and west of the IRAS source and coincide with the bipolar lobes o
f the CO outflow from the source. The western lobe of the nebula is si
gnificantly brighter than the eastern lobe and is spatially coincident
with the blueshifted CO emission from the outflow. If the nebular lob
es have equal intrinsic brightness, their apparent brightness implies
that the outflow has an inclination angle of similar to 40 degrees to
the plane of the sky and that the density distribution within the dens
e gas around IRAS 18148-0440 has a radial profile steeper than r(-1).
There is a bright knot of molecular hydrogen emission close to the end
of the blueshifted CO with a jet like feature extending from the knot
back toward the location of the embedded star. The knot of emission i
s thought to be tracing the region where the stellar wind is impacting
the surrounding dense gas. The observations suggest that IRAS 18148-0
440 is very young and that its outflow is driven by a jet from the cen
tral star.