Molecular outflows towards O-type young stellar objects
  We have searched for massive molecular outflows in a sample of high-mass star
forming regions, and we have characterised both the outflow properties and
those of their associated molecular clumps. With a sample composed largely of
more luminous objects than previous ones, this work complements analogous
surveys performed by other authors by adding the missing highest luminosity
sources. The sample under study has been selected so as to favour the earliest
evolutionary phases of star formation, and is composed of very luminous objects
(L_bol > 2x10^4 L_sun and up to ~10^6 L_sun), possibly containing O-type stars.
Each source has been mapped in 13CO(2-1) and C18O(2-1) with the IRAM-30m
telescope on Pico Veleta (Spain). The whole sample shows high-velocity wings in
the 13CO(2-1) spectra, indicative of outflowing motions. In addition, we have
obtained outflow maps in 9 of our 11 sources, which display well-defined blue
and/or red lobes. For these sources, the outflow parameters have been derived
from the line wing 13CO(2-1) emission. An estimate of the clump masses from the
C18O(2-1) emission is also provided and found to be comparable to the virial
masses. From a comparison between our results and those found by other authors
at lower masses, it is clear that the outflow mechanical force increases with
the bolometric luminosity of the clump and with the ionising photon rate of the
associated HII regions, indicating that high-mass stars drive more powerful
outflows. A tight correlation between outflow mass and clump mass is also
found. Molecular outflows are found to be as common in massive star forming
regions as in low-mass star forming regions. This, added to the detection of a
few tentative large-scale rotating structures suggests that high-mass stars may
generally form via accretion, as low-mass stars.
