Far-IR Mapping of W3: Comparison of 145 microns [O I] and 158 microns [C II] Distributions

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

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Scientific paper

We mapped the 145 microns [O I] and 158 microns [C II] fine-structure lines in a 6' times 6' (4 times 4 pc) region of the W3 Main molecular cloud. The lines were mapped at 55" resolution using the MPE Far-Infrared Fabry-Perot array spectrometer on board the NASA Kuiper Airborne Observatory. The lines arise in dense, photodissociated gas on the surfaces of clumps illuminated by UV photons escaping from embedded compact H II regions. Comparison of the [O I] and [C II] maps with a (13) CO J=2->1 line map of the same region observed at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory shows that the [O I] emission is confined to the region with the highest column-density of molecular gas. The [C II] emission, however, arises not only in the densest part of the molecular cloud, but also south of the molecular core where the molecular gas has been almost completely photodissociated by young O and B stars. In the molecular core, the distribution of [O I] and [C II] emission is quite similar, suggesting that the lines arise in the same gas. The peaks of the [O I] and [C II] emission both occur just south of the W3(A) H II region. The [O I] map also show several secondary emission peaks adjacent to W3(B) and W3(D). The [O I]/[C II] intensity ratio varies from 0.1 at the cloud edge to about 1 near W3(B). Comparison of this ratio and the absolut intensity of the [O I] emission with photodissociation region models (e.g. Burton, Hollenbach, and Tielens 1990) indicates that the gas densities range from 10(4) to 10(6) cm(-3) in the cloud core.

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