The Significance of Jets Emanating from Low-Mass Protostellar Objects

Protostellar jets are fascinating phenomena associated with accreting protostars. They are ejected from the onset of gravitational collapse and continue throughout the accretion process, essentially preserving the history of stellar accretion. By studying their observational characteristics, we can gain insight into the accretion process, jet launching mechanisms, and the influence of jets on planet formation as they emerge from protoplanetary disks. We have recently been using the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope to conduct a survey of molecular jets. The detection of molecular emission from these jets at millimeter wavelengths is a crucial indicator of their youth. Our thorough analyses indicate that these jets are largely episodic, and this could be linked to episodic accretion onto the protostar. The velocity of the jets, mass-loss rates, mass-accretion rates, and the timing of ejection/accretion events are likely influenced by the driving forces of the jet, such as stellar luminosity and envelope mass. Our estimates suggest that the mean periods of ejection events in protostars range from a few decades to a few centuries. In my talk, I will delve into the observational characteristics of jets from young low-mass protostars and discuss their potential correlation with the accretion process.