The star-forming region around HH 24-26 - a revised morphology

High resolution observations of the star-forming region around the Herbig - Haro objects 24-26 have been made in J=4-3 HCO+, J=5-4 CS and J=2-1 CO (resolutions 14'', 20'' and 22'' respectively). The former show that the gas appears to be clumped into small (0.05 pc), dense condensations probably of several solar masses, some of which may be associated with known infrared sources. These clumps are embedded in a previously mapped molecular ridge. The HCO+ and CS lines show significant wings in places highlighting the interaction between outflows and the surrounding dense gas. Also resolved are two separate, roughly parallel bipolar outflows, with projected maximum velocities of 8 and 18 km s-1 for the north and south outflows respectively. The mass of material in each outflow is calculated (in the optically thin limit) to be rather similar at about 0.5M., somewhat smaller than previous estimates. Optical depth effects may explain this. A third CO flow may also be present, roughly centred on HH 25 and probably associated with the largest HCO+ clump. None of the remaining clumps are situated near the centres of the main outflows and it seems unlikely that these are powered by any previously known infrared object.