EPoS Contribution
EPoS Contribution
Deciphering protostellar outflows with molecular hydrogen

Michael Smith
University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
From the emission lines of molecular hydrogen, we can recover unique information concerning the interaction of protostars with their environments. Recent observations of perfect fluoresence from the Rosette Cat's Eye is contrasted with extreme high-velocity H2 in several outflows in the DR21 region and with a perfect bow shock in L1448. Moving on from ISO and Spitzer, the next jump in performance is expected from JWST and then SPICA. Implications for source evolution, outbursts, as well as envelope and cloud structure will be discussed.