HII region G24.78+0.08 A1 images

Hypercompact HII regions are the most interesting in this respect because they are very young, and hence best suited to study the beginning of the expansion of the ionised gas inside the parental core. We have analysed the geometrical and physical structure of the hypercompact HII region G24.78+0.08 A1, making use of new continuum and hydrogen recombination line data (H41{alpha}, H63{alpha}, H66{alpha}, H68{alpha}) and data from the literature (H30{alpha}, H35{alpha}).

We fit the continuum spectrum with a homogenous, isothermal shell of ionised gas at 10^4^K and derive the size of the HII region and the Lyman continuum luminosity of the ionising star. We also fit the recombination line spectra emitted from the same shell with a model taking into account expansion at constant speed. The best fits to the continuum and line spectra allow the derivation of the Lyman continuum luminosity of the ionising star, HII region size, geometrical thickness of the shell, and expansion velocity.