Herschel Measurements of Molecular Oxygen in Orion
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2011
We report observations of three rotational transitions of molecular oxygen (O2) in emission from the H2 Peak 1 position of vibrationally excited molecular hydrogen in Orion. We observed the 487 GHz, 774 GHz, and 1121 GHz lines using the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared on the Herschel Space Observatory, having velocities of 11 km s–1 to 12 km s–1 and widths of 3 km s–1. The beam-averaged column density is N(O2) = 6.5 × 1016 cm–2, and assuming that the source has an equal beam-filling factor for all transitions (beam widths 44, 28, and 19''), the relative line intensities imply a kinetic temperature between 65 K and 120 K. The fractional abundance of O2 relative to H2 is (0.3-7.3) × 10–6. The unusual velocity suggests an association with a ~5'' diameter source, denoted Peak A, the Western Clump, or MF4. The mass of this source is ~10 Msun and the dust temperature is ≥150 K. Our preferred explanation of the enhanced O2 abundance is that dust grains in this region are sufficiently warm (T ≥ 100 K) to desorb water ice and thus keep a significant fraction of elemental oxygen in the gas phase, with a significant fraction as O2. For this small source, the line ratios require a temperature ≥180 K. The inferred O2 column density sime5 × 1018 cm–2 can be produced in Peak A, having N(H2) sime 4 × 1024 cm–2. An alternative mechanism is a low-velocity (10-15 km s–1) C-shock, which can produce N(O2) up to 1017 cm–2.
interstellar medium
astrochemistry
submillimeter
interstellar molecules
Författare
Paul F. Goldsmith
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
René Liseau
Chalmers, Rymd- och geovetenskap, Radioastronomi och astrofysik
Tom A. Bell
Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB)
John H Black
Chalmers, Rymd- och geovetenskap, Radioastronomi och astrofysik
Jo-Hsin Chen
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
David Hollenbach
SETI Institute
Michael J. Kaufman
San Jose State University
Di Li
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
D. Lis
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
G. J. Melnick
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
D. A. Neufeld
Johns Hopkins University
Laurent Pagani
LERMA - Laboratoire d'Etudes du Rayonnement et de la Matiere en Astrophysique et Atmospheres
Ronald Snell
University of Massachusetts
A. O. Benz
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH)
E. A. Bergin
University of Michigan
S. Bruderer
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH)
P. Caselli
University of Leeds
E. Caux
Université de Toulouse
Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)
P. J. Encrenaz
LERMA - Laboratoire d'Etudes du Rayonnement et de la Matiere en Astrophysique et Atmospheres
E. Falgarone
Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)
M. Gerin
Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)
Javier R. Goicoechea
Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB)
Åke Hjalmarson
Chalmers, Rymd- och geovetenskap, Radioastronomi och astrofysik
Bengt Larsson
Stockholms observatorium
Jacques Le Bourlot
LUTH - Laboratoire de l'Univers et de ses Theories
Franck Le Petit
LUTH - Laboratoire de l'Univers et de ses Theories
Massimo De Luca
LUTH - Laboratoire de l'Univers et de ses Theories
Zsofia Nagy
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Evelyne Roueff
LUTH - Laboratoire de l'Univers et de ses Theories
A. Sandqvist
Stockholms observatorium
F. F. S. van der Tak
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
E. F. van Dishoeck
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Universiteit Leiden
Charlotte Vastel
Université de Toulouse
Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)
Serena Viti
University College London (UCL)
U. A. Yildiz
Universiteit Leiden
Astrophysical Journal
0004-637X (ISSN) 1538-4357 (eISSN)
Vol. 737 2 96 (1-17) 96Ämneskategorier (SSIF 2011)
Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi
Fundament
Grundläggande vetenskaper
DOI
10.1088/0004-637X/737/2/96