Aims. We describe the assignment of a previously unidentified interstellar absorption line to ArH+ and discuss its relevance in the context of hydride absorption in diffuse gas with a low H2 ...fraction. The confidence of the assignment to ArH+ is discussed, and the column densities are determined toward several lines of sight. The results are then discussed in the framework of chemical models, with the aim of explaining the observed column densities. Methods. We fitted the spectral lines with multiple velocity components, and determined column densities from the line-to-continuum ratio. The column densities of ArH+ were compared to those of other species, tracing interstellar medium (ISM) components with different H2 abundances. We constructed chemical models that take UV radiation and cosmic ray ionization into account. Results. Thanks to the detection of two isotopologues, 36ArH+ and 38ArH+, we are confident about the carrier assignment to ArH+. NeH+ is not detected with a limit of NeH+/ArH+ ≤ 0.1. The derived column densities agree well with the predictions of chemical models. ArH+ is a unique tracer of gas with a fractional H2 abundance of 10-4 − 10-3 and shows little correlation to H2O+, which traces gas with a fractional H2 abundance of ≈0.1. Conclusions. A careful analysis of variations in the ArH+, OH+, H2O+, and HF column densities promises to be a faithful tracer of the distribution of the H2 fractional abundance by providing unique information on a poorly known phase in the cycle of interstellar matter and on its transition from atomic diffuse gas to dense molecular gas traced by CO emission. Abundances of these species put strong observational constraints upon magnetohydrodynamical (MHD)simulations of the interstellar medium, and potentially could evolve into a tool characterizing the ISM. Paradoxically, the ArH+ molecule is a better tracer of almost purely atomic hydrogen gas than Hi itself, since Hi can also be present in gas with a significant molecular content, but ArH+ singles out gas that is >99.9% atomic.
Aims. The HIFI instrument onboard Herschel has allowed high spectral resolution and sensitive observations of ground-state transitions of three molecular ions: the methylidyne cation CH+, its ...isotopologue 13CH+, and sulfanylium SH+. Because of their unique chemical properties, a comparative analysis of these cations provides essential clues to the link between the chemistry and dynamics of the diffuse interstellar medium. Methods. The CH+, 13CH+, and SH+ lines are observed in absorption towards the distant high-mass star-forming regions (SFRs) DR21(OH), G34.3+0.1, W31C, W33A, W49N, and W51, and towards two sources close to the Galactic centre, SgrB2(N) and SgrA*+50. All sight lines sample the diffuse interstellar matter along pathlengths of several kiloparsecs across the Galactic Plane. In order to compare the velocity structure of each species, the observed line profiles were deconvolved from the hyperfine structure of the SH+ transition and the CH+, 13CH+, and SH+ spectra were independently decomposed into Gaussian velocity components. To analyse the chemical composition of the foreground gas, all spectra were divided, in a second step, into velocity intervals over which the CH+, 13CH+, and SH+ column densities and abundances were derived. Results. SH+ is detected along all observed lines of sight, with a velocity structure close to that of CH+ and 13CH+. The linewidth distributions of the CH+, SH+, and 13CH+ Gaussian components are found to be similar. These distributions have the same mean (⟨Δυ⟩ ~ 4.2 km s-1) and standard deviation (σ(Δυ) ~ 1.5 km s-1). This mean value is also close to that of the linewidth distribution of the CH+ visible transitions detected in the solar neighbourhood. We show that the lack of absorption components narrower than 2 km s-1 is not an artefact caused by noise: the CH+, 13CH+, and SH+ line profiles are therefore statistically broader than those of most species detected in absorption in diffuse interstellar gas (e.g. HCO+, CH, or CN). The SH+/CH+ column density ratio observed in the components located away from the Galactic centre spans two orders of magnitude and correlates with the CH+ abundance. Conversely, the ratio observed in the components close to the Galactic centre varies over less than one order of magnitude with no apparent correlation with the CH+ abundance. The observed dynamical and chemical properties of SH+ and CH+ are proposed to trace the ubiquitous process of turbulent dissipation, in shocks or shears, in the diffuse ISM and the specific environment of the Galactic centre regions.
We present the first ~7.5'×11.5' velocity-resolved (~0.2 km s
) map of the C ii 158
m line toward the Orion molecular cloud 1 (OMC 1) taken with the
/HIFI instrument. In combination with far-infrared ...(FIR) photometric images and velocity-resolved maps of the H41
hydrogen recombination and CO
=2-1 lines, this data set provides an unprecedented view of the intricate small-scale kinematics of the ionized/PDR/molecular gas interfaces and of the radiative feedback from massive stars. The main contribution to the C ii luminosity (~85 %) is from the extended, FUV-illuminated face of the cloud (
>500,
>5×10
cm
) and from dense PDRs (
≳10
,
≳10
cm
) at the interface between OMC 1 and the H ii region surrounding the Trapezium cluster. Around ~15 % of the C ii emission arises from a different gas component without CO counterpart. The C ii excitation, PDR gas turbulence, line opacity (from
C ii) and role of the geometry of the illuminating stars with respect to the cloud are investigated. We construct maps of the
C ii/
and
/
ratios and show that
C ii/
decreases from the extended cloud component (~10
-10
) to the more opaque star-forming cores (~10
-10
). The lowest values are reminiscent of the "C ii deficit" seen in local ultra-luminous IR galaxies hosting vigorous star formation. Spatial correlation analysis shows that the decreasing
C ii/
ratio correlates better with the column density of dust through the molecular cloud than with
/
. We conclude that the C ii emitting column relative to the total dust column along each line of sight is responsible for the observed
C ii/
variations through the cloud.
Aims. Ionized carbon is the main gas-phase reservoir of carbon in the neutral diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) and its 158 μm fine structure transition C ii is the most important cooling line of the ...diffuse ISM. We combine C ii absorption and emission spectroscopy to gain an improved understanding of physical conditions in the different phases of the ISM. Methods. We present high-resolution C ii spectra obtained with the Herschel/HIFI instrument towards bright dust continuum regions in the Galactic plane, probing simultaneously the diffuse gas along the line of sight and the background high-mass star forming regions. These data are complemented by single pointings in the 492 and 809 GHz fine structure lines of atomic carbon and by medium spectral resolution spectral maps of the fine structure lines of atomic oxygen at 63 and 145 μm with Herschel/PACS. Results. We show that the presence of foreground absorption may completely cancel the emission from the background source in medium spectral resolution PACS data and that high spectral resolution spectra are needed to interpret the C ii and O i emission and the C ii/FIR ratio. This phenomenon may explain part of the C ii/FIR deficit seen in external luminous infrared galaxies where the bright emission from the nuclear regions may be partially canceled by absorption from diffuse gas in the foreground. The C+ and C excitation in the diffuse gas is consistent with a median pressure of ~5900 K cm-3 for a mean kinetic temperature of ~100 K. A few higher pressure regions are detected along the lines of sight, as emission features in both fine structure lines of atomic carbon. The knowledge of the gas density allows us to determine the filling factor of the absorbing gas along the selected lines of sight. The derived median value of the filling factor is 2.4%, in good agreement with the properties of the Galactic cold neutral medium. The mean excitation temperature is used to derive the average cooling due to C+ in the Galactic plane : 9.5 × 10-26 erg-1H-1. Along the observed lines of sight, the gas phase carbon abundance does not exhibit a strong gradient as a function of Galacto-centric radius and has a weighted average of C/H = 1.5 ± 0.4 × 10-4.
Context. Chemical fractionation reactions in the interstellar medium can result in molecular isotopologue abundance ratios that differ by many orders of magnitude from the isotopic abundance ratios. ...Understanding variations in the molecular abundance ratios through astronomical observations provides a new toolto sensitively probe the underlying physical conditions. Aims. Recently, we have introduced detailed isotopic chemistry into the KOSMA-τ model for photon-dominated regions (PDRs), which allows calculating abundances of carbon isotopologues as a function of PDR parameters. Radiative transfer computations then allow to predict the observed C ii/13C ii line intensity ratio for specific geometries. Here, we compare these model predictions with new Herschel observations. Methods. We performed Herschel/HIFI observations of the C ii 158 μm line in a number of PDRs. In all sources, we observed at least two hyperfine components of the 13C ii transition, allowing determination of the C ii/13C ii intensity ratio, using revised intrinsic hyperfine ratios. Comparing the observed line ratios with the predictions from the updated KOSMA-τ model, we identify conditions under which the chemical fractionation effects are important, and not masked by the high optical depth of the main isotopic line. Results. An observable enhancement of the C ii/13C ii intensity ratio due to chemical fractionation depends mostly on the source geometry and velocity structure,and to a lesser extent on the gas density and radiation field strength. The enhancement is expected to be largest for PDR layers that are somewhat shielded from UV radiation, but not completely hidden behind a surface layer of optically thick C ii. In our observations the C ii/13C ii integrated line intensity ratio is always dominated by the optical depth of the main isotopic line. However, an enhanced intensity ratio isfound for particular velocity components in several sources: in the red-shifted material in the ultracompact H ii region Mon R2, in the wings of the turbulent line profile in the Orion Bar, and possibly in the blue wing in NGC 7023. Mapping of the 13C ii lines in the Orion Bar gives a C+ column density map, which confirms the temperature stratification of the C+ layer, in agreement with the PDR models of this region. Conclusions. Carbon fractionation can be significant even in relatively warm PDRs, but a resulting enhanced C ii/13C ii intensity ratio is only observable for special configurations. In most cases, a reduced C ii/13C ii intensity ratiocan be used instead to derive the C ii optical depth, leading to reliable column density estimates that can be compared with PDR model predictions. The C+ column densities show that, for all sources, at the position of the C ii peak emission, the dominant fraction of the gas-phase carbon is in the form of C+.
The Galactic center dust ridge consists of a narrow string of massive condensations, first identified in submillimeter dust continuum emission. To determine whether new high-mass stars are forming in ...this region, we performed new observations at 870 μm with the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX) telescope and at 8.4 GHz with the Very Large Array. We complement our data with recent maser and mid-infrared results. The ridge’s clouds are dark at mid-infrared wavelengths, indicating the presence of cold, high column density material. In combination with existing temperature measurements in the dust ridge, we determine masses of the largest clouds. The results show that the dust ridge contains a very massive reservoir of molecular material. We find five radio continuum sources at 8.4 GHz in the general dust ridge vicinity, but outside of the dust ridge clouds. They are likely all excited by massive young stars, whose properties we constrain. Our observations exclude the existence of zero age main sequence stars with spectral types earlier than B0.5 within the dust ridge clouds. The only indication of ongoing high-mass star formation inside the clouds are class II methanol masers that are found in two of the clouds. Except for a weak water maser, found in previous observations, no signs of star formation are detected in the most massive cloud, M0.25+0.012.
Context. The ortho-to-para ratio (OPR) of water in the interstellar medium (ISM) is often assumed to be related to the formation temperature of water molecules, making it a potentially interesting ...tracer of the thermal history of interstellar gas. Aims. A very low OPR of 0.1–0.5 was previously reported in the Orion Bar photon-dominated region (PDR), based on observations of two optically thin H218O $\textrm{H}_{2}^{18}\textrm{O}$ H218O lines which were analyzed by using a single-slab large velocity gradient (LVG) model. The corresponding spin temperature does not coincide with the kinetic temperature of the molecular gas in this UV-illuminated region. This was interpreted as an indication of water molecules being formed on cold icy grains which were subsequently released by UV photodesorption. Methods. A more complete set of water observations in the Orion Bar, including seven H216O $\textrm{H}_{2}^{16}\textrm{O}$H216O lines and one H218O $\textrm{H}_{2}^{18}\textrm{O}$H218O line, carried out using Herschel/HIFI instrument, was reanalyzed using the Meudon PDR code to derive gas-phase water abundance and the OPR. The model takes into account the steep density and temperature gradients present in the region. Results. The model line intensities are in good agreement with the observations assuming that water molecules formed with an OPR corresponding to thermal equilibrium conditions at the local kinetic temperature of the gas and when solely considering gas-phase chemistry and water gas-grain exchanges through adsorption and desorption. Gas-phase water is predicted to arise from a region deep into the cloud, corresponding to a visual extinction of AV ~ 9, with a H216O $\textrm{H}_{2}^{16}\textrm{O}$H216O fractional abundance of ~2 × 10−7 and column density of (1.4 ± 0.8) × 1015 cm−2 for a total cloud depth of AV = 15. A line-of-sight average OPR of 2.8 ± 0.2 is derived. Conclusions. The observational data are consistent with a nuclear spin isomer repartition corresponding to the thermal equilibrium at a temperature of 36 ± 2 K, much higher than the spin temperature previously reported for this region and close to the gas kinetic temperature in the water-emitting gas.
Context. The low mass protostar IRAS16293-2422 is a prototype Class 0 source in studies of the chemical structure during the initial phases of life of solar type stars. Aims. To derive the chemical ...structure accurately, a precise determination of the source physical structure is required. The goal of this study is to derive the structure of IRAS16293-2422. Methods. We reanalyzed all available continuum data (single dish and interferometric, from millimeter to MIR) to derive accurate density and dust temperature profiles. Using ISO observations of water, we also reconstructed the gas temperature profile. Results. Our analysis shows that the envelope surrounding IRAS16293-2422 is described well by the Shu “inside-out” collapsing envelope model or a single power-law density profile with index equal to 1.8. In contrast to some previous studies, our analysis does not show evidence of a large (≥800 AU in diameter) cavity. Conclusions. Although IRAS16293-2422 is a multiple system composed of two or three objects, our reconstruction will be useful in deriving the chemical structure of the large cold envelope surrounding these objects and the warm component, treated here as a single source, from single-dish observations of molecular emission.
The Barnard 1b core shows signatures of being at the earliest stages of low-mass star formation, with two extremely young and deeply embedded proto-stellar objects. Hence, this core is an ideal ...target to study the structure and chemistry of the first objects formed in the collapse of prestellar cores. We present ALMA Band 6 spectral line observations at ~0.6″ of angular resolution towards Barnard 1b. We have extracted the spectra towards both protostars, and used a local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) model to reproduce the observed line profiles. B1b-S shows rich and complex spectra, with emission from high energy transitions of complex molecules, such as CH3OCOH and CH3CHO, including vibrational level transitions. We have tentatively detected for the first time in this source emission from NH2CN, NH2CHO, CH3CH2OH, CH2OHCHO, CH3CH2OCOH and both aGg′ and gGg′ conformers of (CH2OH)2. This is the first detection of ethyl formate (CH3CH2OCOH) towards a low-mass star forming region. On the other hand, the spectra of the FHSC candidate B1b-N are free of COMs emission. In order to fit the observed line profiles in B1b-S, we used a source model with two components: an inner hot and compact component (200 K, 0.35″) and an outer and colder one (60 K, 0.6″). The resulting COM abundances in B1b-S range from 10−13 for NH2CN and NH2CHO, up to 10−9 for CH3OCOH. Our ALMA Band 6 observations reveal the presence of a compact and hot component in B1b-S, with moderate abundances of complex organics. These results indicate that a hot corino is being formed in this very young Class 0 source.
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