K-band integral field spectroscopy and optical spectroscopy of massive young stellar objects in the Small Magellanic Cloud

Abstract

We present K-band integral field spectroscopic observations towards 17 massive young stellar objects (YSOs) in the low-metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and two YSO candidates in the compact H?II regions N81 and N88 A (also in the SMC). These sources, originally identified using Spitzer photometry and/or spectroscopy, have been resolved into 29 K-band continuum sources. By comparing Br? emission luminosities with those presented for a Galactic sample of massive YSOs, we find tentative evidence for increased accretion rates in the SMC. Around half of our targets exhibit emission-line (Br?, He?I and H2) morphologies that extend significantly beyond the continuum source and we have mapped both the emission morphologies and the radial velocity fields. This analysis also reveals evidence for the existence of ionized low-density regions in the centre outflows from massive YSOs. Additionally, we present an analysis of optical spectra towards a similar sample of massive YSOs in the SMC, revealing that the optical emission is photoexcited and originates near the outer edges of molecular clouds, and is therefore consistent with a high mean-free path of UV photons in the interstellar medium (ISM) of the SMC. Finally, we discuss the sample of YSOs in an evolutionary context incorporating the results of previous infrared and radio observations, as well as the near-infrared and optical observations presented in this work. Our spectroscopic analysis in both the K band and the optical regimes, combined with previously obtained infrared and radio data, exposes differences between properties of massive YSOs in our own Galaxy and the SMC, including tracers of accretion, discs and YSO–ISM interactions.