Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Jun 1987
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1987a%26a...180l...9d&link_type=abstract
Astronomy and Astrophysics (ISSN 0004-6361), vol. 180, no. 1-2, June 1987, p. L9-L12.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
64
Cyclic Hydrocarbons, Gas Heating, Hydrogen, Interstellar Gas, Molecular Clouds, Photoionization, Photoabsorption, Ultraviolet Radiation
Scientific paper
It is proposed that the photoelectric effect on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) molecules can be the dominant source of heating of the interstellar H I gas, if their photoionization cross-section is sufficient. Such a quantity has not yet been measured for large PAHs, but is estimated from data on benzene. The ionization properties of PAHs are reviewed and their ionization fraction in various environments are computed. The heat input from the ejected photoelectrons is calculated, and it can be the dominant heating source for the H I clouds and the intercloud medium if about 10 percent of the cosmic carbon is locked in PAH molecules. Such a value is consistent with previous estimates of their abundance. This situation differs from the photoelectric effect on grains, which has been pointed out to be inefficient in the hot intercloud medium.
D'Hendecourt L. B.
Leger Alain
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