THE BIPOLAR OPTICAL OUTFLOW ASSOCIATED WITH PV CEPHEI

We describe deep 10'X19' CCD images of the bipolar [S II] jet emanatin g from the Herbig Ae/Be star PV Cephei. The similar to 2.3 pc long jet exhibits a clear S-shaped morphology and lies within the lobes of the molecular outflow. The 23 HH knots-including 21 new detections-sugges t an intermittent outflow with major eruptions every similar to 2000 y r. We model the morphology of the optical outflow with a simple preces sing jet; our preferred model has a large inclination to the Line-of-s ight, i similar to 80 degrees; an opening angle for the precession axi s, theta similar to 45 degrees; and a modest precession period of simi lar to 8300 yr. The close association of optical and radio outflows-to gether with our simple dynamical jet model-is consistent with Masson & Chernin's (1993, ApJ, 414, 230) picture where a precessing optical je t carves out cavities in an infalling envelope and drives a molecular outflow. (C) 1997 American Astronomical Society.