Small-scale structure in the interstellar medium. I - Discovery of very small molecular clouds toward Alpha Orionis

Details Small-scale structure in the interstellar medium. I - Discovery of very small molecular clouds toward Alpha Orionis Small-scale structure in the interstellar medium. I - Discovery of very small molecular clouds toward Alpha Orionis

Aug 1988

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1988apj...331..974k&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 331, Aug. 15, 1988, p. 974-985. Navy-supported research.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

30

Carbon Monoxide, Interstellar Matter, Line Spectra, Molecular Clouds, Abundance, Brightness Temperature, Emission Spectra, H I Regions, Infrared Astronomy Satellite, Infrared Radiation, Very Large Array (Vla)

Scientific paper

Five very small, discrete molecular clouds, probably associated with the Lambda Ori molecular cloud complex, have been discovered via their CO emission in the direction of Alpha Ori. At a distance of 400 pc, their angular diameters (2-10 arcmin) correspond to linear diameters of 0.2 to 1 pc, making these the smallest molecular clouds yet found. Analysis of the CO line intensities leads to estimated masses of about 0.02 to 1 solar mass, an order of magnitude smaller than for previously discovered molecular clouds and less than 1 percent of the equilibrium virial masses. Tentative detections at 60 microns and 100 microns of two of the clouds in the IRAS satellite data base also indicate low values for the cloud masses and fairly low (less than about 20K) temperatures. The CO-12/CO-13 isotope ratios have values of about 40. As is the case for other diffuse clouds, the CO/H2 ratios are very much higher than predicted by chemical models. The clouds may be in approximate pressure equilibrium with the ambient interstellar medium, but velocity wings seen for some of the line profiles indicate unstable dynamics.

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