A DEEPLY EMBEDDED COMPANION TO LKH-ALPHA-198

The region around the Herbig Ae/Be star LkHalpha 198 was imaged with t he 10 mum CAMIRAS camera mounted on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope and on the Nordic Optical Telescope. We discovered, 6'' north of LkHa lpha 198, a deeply embedded source (A(V) > 35), which may play an impo rtant role in the region, as indicated by its observed flux (approxima tely 40% of LkHalpha 198 at 12.3 mum) and its position on the optical images (on the axis of the elliptical optical nebula). It is quite lik ely that it is in fact the new embedded source, and not LkHalpha 198, which drives the CO molecular outflow seen in this region. At the reso lution of our observations (FWHM = 1.3''), LkHalpha 198 appears pointl ike, so that the mid-infrared excess from this object cannot be due to an extended envelope with a large amount of transiently heated small grains.