Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010aas...21641206l&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #216, #412.06; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.822
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
To understand the lifecycle of the interstellar gas and star formation we need detailed information about the diffuse atomic and diffuse molecular gas cloud properties. The ionized carbon [CII] 1.9 THz fine structure line is an important tracer of the atomic gas in the diffuse regions and the interface regions of atomic gas to molecular clouds. Furthermore, C+ is a major ISM coolant and among the Galaxy's strongest far-IR emission lines, and thus controls the thermal conditions throughout large parts of the Galaxy. Until now our knowledge of interstellar gas has been limited to the diffuse atomic phase traced by HI and to the dense molecular H2 phase traced by CO. However, we are missing an important phase of the ISM called "dark gas” in which there is no or little, HI, and mostly molecular hydrogen but with insufficient shielding of UV to allow CO to form. C+ emission and absorption lines at 1.9 THz have the potential to trace this gas. Galactic Observations of the Terahertz C+ Line (GOT C+) is a Herschel Space Observatory Open Time Key Program to study the diffuse interstellar medium by sampling [CII] 1.9 THz line emission throughout the Galactic disk. We discuss the broader perspective of this survey and the first results of GOT C+ obtained during the Science Demonstration Phase (SDP) and Priority Science Phase (PSP) of HIFI, which focus on approximately 100 lines of sight in the inner galaxy. This research was conducted at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Goldsmith Paul F.
Langer William
Li Daming
Pineda Jorge L.
Velusamy Thangasamy
No associations
LandOfFree
Galactic Observations of Terahertz C+ (GOT C+): First Results: Inner Galaxy Survey does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Galactic Observations of Terahertz C+ (GOT C+): First Results: Inner Galaxy Survey, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Galactic Observations of Terahertz C+ (GOT C+): First Results: Inner Galaxy Survey will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1891243