Glitters of warm H2 in cold diffuse molecular gas

Details Glitters of warm H2 in cold diffuse molecular gas Glitters of warm H2 in cold diffuse molecular gas

May 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007sptz.prop40535f&link_type=abstract

Spitzer Proposal ID #40535

Computer Science

Scientific paper

Cold molecular hydrogen, a dominant gas fraction in galaxies, does not radiate due to the symmetry of the molecule. The only tracers of cold H2, the rotational lines of CO and dust thermal emission operate only in metal-rich environments. By detecting the lowest rotational lines of H2 at unexpected levels in the cold diffuse medium of the Galaxy, ISO-SWS has challenged the traditional view of the interstellar medium (ISM) by possibly revealing the existence of tiny gas fractions within the cold ISM, warm enough to excite H2 lines. The heating source of H2 there is the intermittent dissipation of supersonic turbulence, pervading the entire ISM. These glitters of H2 line emission may become the unique tracers of cold H2 in low metallicity environments. Given the fundamental importance of probing large hidden masses of gas in galaxies, for their implication on galaxy dynamics, star formation thresholds in metal-poor environments, and the hypothesis of H2 as baryonic dark matter in galaxies, the present SST/IRS proposal is dedicated to further search of this still elusive emission. The proposed observations consist in several IRS LL pointings along the major axis of two external galaxies with massive HI disks extending far beyond their optical radius, and for which the HI rotation curve cannot be accounted for by the stellar and visible gas components. These spectra also observed in the direction of the galaxy nuclei, are meant to allow the separation between the H2 emission with stellar-type excitation from that originating in gas heated by turbulence dissipation. The goal of the proposal is to strenghten the existence of pockets of warm H2 disseminated in the cold diffuse medium of galaxies. These glitters of warm H2 would be a new tracer of hitherto undetected amounts of cold H2 in low metallicity environments, and, as a more exploratory facet, might probe the presence of large amounts of baryonic dark matter in galaxies in the form of cold molecular hydrogen.

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