Formaldehyde in Rho Ophiuchi. I

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

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Absorption Spectra, Formaldehyde, Interstellar Extinction, Interstellar Matter, Photodissociation, Energy Levels, Graphs (Charts), Optical Thickness, Tables (Data)

Scientific paper

Formaldehyde in the dark cloud Rho Ophiuchi has been investigated using observations of the 6 cm line in absorption made by Heiles and Encrenaz. The ratio of the number of formaldehyde molecules in the lower level of the 6-cm transition to the total number of H2CO molecules has been determined for conditions present in dark clouds, and this result has been applied to the Rho Oph observations to calculate column densities. A slight increase in the optical depth and decrease in excitation temperature towards the center of the cloud were assumed. The calculated column densities were compared with visual extinction data for Rho Oph. The ratio of the formaldehyde column density to the visual distinction was found to remain relatively constant for visual extinctions of 2.5 to 7.1 mag. If the high rates of photodissociation of H2CO predicted by Sandell and Mattila (1975) and Sandell (1978) are correct, the ratio of the H2CO column density to the visual extinction can be expected to increase by an order of magnitude as the visual extinction increases from 2.5 to 7.1 mag.

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