OBSERVATIONS OF MOLECULAR CLOUDS IN THE HH-1-2 REGION

We observed the region of Herbig-Haro object HH 1-2 with several molec ular lines. The emission is dominated by two large-scale (similar to 1 50 '') elongations roughly parallel to each other in the HCO(+)J=3-->2 line map. We discuss our results testing the two possibilities sugges ted in the literature: a molecular toroid around VLA 1, as suggested b y Torrelles et al. (1994), and two physically disconnected elongations , as suggested by Cernicharo (1991). Around the central source, VLA 1, our HCO(+)J=4-->3 and H2CO J(K-1K+1)=3(03)-->2(02) maps all show a si milar to 40 '' scale elongation nearly perpendicular to the HH 1-2 axi s. We suggest that this molecular core is a disk/toroid-like structure . Our CO J=3-->2 data reveal the existence of a molecular outflow arou nd VLA 1. We also observed an HCO+ clump downwind of HH 2, where the H CO+ abundance is possibly enhanced by the shock. We also discuss the s tar formation activities around VLA 3.