The nearby protostellar core Cha-MMS1 has been mapped in the NH3 (1, 1) line and the 1.2 cm continuum using the Australia Telescope Compact Array, ATCA. In addition, observations from Spitzer Space Telescope and Herschel Space Observatory are used to help the interpretation. An elongated condensation with a maximum length of 9000 AU is seen in ammonia. The condensation has a clear velocity gradient directed perpendicularly to the axis of elongation. The gradient can be interpreted as rotation around this axis. We suggest that the observed ammonia structure delineates a rotating envelope and dense gas entrained by a very young protostellar outflow.

We present a radiation transfer model consistently developed for a core in high pressure environment forming a massive star through core accretion. We compare this model to the massive protostar G35.2-0.74N, including SOFIA observations at 30 and 40μm. Good agreement is achieved, showing that a ~30M⊙ protostar is forming from a high surface density core via relatively ordered collapse and accretion, driving powerful outflows. This result supports the Core Accretion theory which predicts that massive stars form similarly to low-mass stars.