Vibrationally excited CS: A new probe of conditions in young protostellar systems

We present the first detection of vibrationally excited C(32)S J = 10-9 and J = 7-6 emission toward a young stellar object (YSO). Toward IRAS 16293-2422, the vibrationally excited C(32)S emission is redshifted approximately 3.9 km/s from the systemic velocity of the core. The emission must arise in warm (T greater than or approximately equal 1000 K), dense (n greater than or approximately equal to 10(exp 11)-10(exp 12) per cc) gas. The most plausible origin for the emission appears to be self-gravitating instabilities in a protostellar accretion disk, which produce waves and shocks.