ASYMPTOTIC INTERNAL WORKING SURFACES OF PERIODICALLY VARIABLE JETS

Abstract

We present a derivation based on the “center of mass formalism”; of the asymptotic behaviour of internal working surfaces produced in a variable HerbigHaro (HH) jet. We obtain the general solution for an arbitrary periodic ejection time-variability, and then show examples for a limited set of functional forms for the velocity and density time-evolutions. Finally, we derive a prescription for obtaining the time-averaged mass loss rate from observations of knots along an HH jet (based on the asymptotic solution), and apply it to derive the mass loss rate of the HH 1 jet.