The environment and nature of the Class I protostar Elias 29: Molecular gas observations and the location of ices

A (sub-)millimeter line and continuum study of the Class I protostar Elias 29 in the rho Ophiuchi molecular cloud is presented whose goals are to understand the nature of this source and to locate the ices that are abundantly present along this line of sight. Within 15"-60" beams, several different components contribute to the line emission. Two different foreground clouds are detected, an envelope/disk system and a dense ridge of HCO+-rich material. The latter two components are spatially separated in millimeter interferometer maps. We analyze the envelope/disk system by using inside-out collapse and flared disk models. The disk is in a relatively face-on orientation