Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Jan 1995
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1995apj...438..784w&link_type=abstract
Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 438, no. 2, p. 784-793
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
81
Astronomical Models, H Ii Regions, Molecular Clouds, Orion Nebula, Spectral Emission, Three Dimensional Models, Brightness, Ionization, Photons
Scientific paper
We have constructed a geometric model for the Orion Nebula exploiting the fact that most of the radiation arises from a relatively thin layer of ionized material near the ionization front on the near side of the giant molecular cloud OMC-1. As a first step, an extinction corrected surface brightness map of H alpha emission was combined with point by point determinations of the electron density to determine the thickness of the emitting layer across the nebula. The second step involved calculation of the geometry that would satisfy the derived emitting layer thickness constraint, the surface brightness in H alpha, and the assumption that all of the ionizing radiation comes from a single star, theta1 Ori C. This was done both for the case of a constant gas density along a line of sight and the more realistic case of an exponentially decreasing density. The resulting models show that M42 is a highly irregular object, with regions in the ionization front where the local slope in the geometry is steeper producing higher surface brightnesses. This model also explains local ionization variations near the Bright Bar and the brightest region about 40 sec southwest of theta1 Ori C.
O'Dell Charles Robert
Wen Zheng
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