(Sub)mm continuum observations of NGC 6334A

We present 2 mm, 1.1 mm, 850 μm, 800 μm, and 450 μm mapping and photometry of the field surrounding NGC 6334A. We find a prominent east–west dust ridge, approximately centered on NGC 6334A. We interpret this ridge as a collimating dust disk or torus and derive a mass of ∼60 M from our continuum data. It is possible though, that this disk– like structure is contaminated on the west-side by a protostellar source, seen as an H2O maser. We find a second strong source MM2, near MM1 in the immediate vicinity of the HII region. H13CO J = 4–3 spectra of MM1 and MM2 confirm that it is a separate source. MM2 approximately coincides with IRS3, a 10 μm source, which in earlier studies has been proposed to be a protostar. We estimate MM2/IRS3 to have a mass of ∼50 M . We find two other protostellar candidates: MM3 and MM4. MM3 is a relatively compact source with a mass of 150 M and connected by a ridge of dust to the HII region, while MM4 is is fainter and more extended. We also see a thin shell of dust surrounding the red–shifted ionized outflow lobe, presumably swept up by the outflow. The dust shell has a mass of ∼60 M . There is clearly less dust emission towards the north, and we do not see the same interaction between the ionized outflow and the surrounding molecular cloud as we see to the south.