A Ly alpha bright jet from a Herbig Ae star

We report the detection in Ly alpha of a collimated, bipolar outflow (HH 40 9) associated with the 1.5-10 Myr old Herbig Ae star HD 163296. A blueshift ed jet is visible in Ly alpha and Si III extending toward the southwest for at least 6" (725 AU). The combination of low line-of-sight extinction and relative faintness of the central star near Ly alpha enables us to trace th e jet to within an unprecedented 0".06 (7.3 AU) of HD 163296. The jet has a radial velocity of 335-380 km s(-1), which is common for protostellar outf lows. We also detected redshifted Ly alpha emission southwest of the star t hat may be due to infall or a poorly collimated wind component. If the age of the star is correct, then protostellar outflows may last up to 10 times longer than previously believed.