  Context. G24.78+0.08 A1 is a 20 Msun star surrounded by a hypercompact (HC)
HII region, driving a CO bipolar outflow, and located at the center of a
massive rotating toroid undergoing infall towards the HC region. Recent water
maser observations suggest that the HC region is expanding and accretion onto
the star is halted. Aims. This study aims to confirm the expansion scenario
proposed for the HC region on the basis of recent H2O maser observations.
Methods. We carried out continuum VLA observations at 1.3cm and 7mm with the A
array plus Pie Town configuration to map the HC region towards G24 A1. Results.
The emission of the HC region has been resolved and shows a ring shape
structure. The profiles of the emission obtained by taking slices at different
angles passing through the barycenter of the HC region confirm the shell
structure of the emission. The ratio between the inner and the outer radius of
the shell, Ri/Ro, derived fitting the normalized brightness temperature profile
passing through the peak of the 7mm emission, is 0.9, which indicates that the
shell is thin. The deconvolved outer radius estimated from the fit is 590 AU.
These results imply that the HC region in G24 A1 cannot be described in terms
of a classical, homogeneous HII region but is instead an ionized shell. This
gives support to the model of an expanding wind-driven, ionized shell suggested
by the kinematics and distribution of the H2O masers associated with the HC
region. According to this model, the HC region is expanding on very short times
scales, 21-66 yr.
