H2 imaging of photon-dominated regions {PDRs}

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Hst Proposal Id #7175 Interstellar Matter

Scientific paper

Molecular hydrogen {H_2} emits strong near-infrared line emission, both in regions where it is thermally excited at high temperatures {T>1000 K, e.g. in molecular shocks}, and in the illuminated boundaries of molecular clouds {photon-dominated regions or PDRs} where it is excited by UV pumping. In the case of UV fluorescence, when the illuminating radiation is fairly uniform, observed fluctuations in the H_2 line intensity will trace fluctuations in density and column density in the boundary layer of the molecular cloud. Narrow-band imaging at high angular resolution in H_2 lines with HST/NICMOS, will probe the small-scale structure of PDRs, which is intimately related to the interstellar turbulence. We propose a series of images in the F212N {H_2 1-0 S1} and F215N {adjacent continuum} filters of the entire nebula IC 63. The pure, strong emission allows the medium-band filters F171M and F180M to probe different combinations of H_2 lines. This comparison will also help to calibrate better the reflected light. The Orion Bar feature southeast of the Trapezium is a well studied PDR with some very interesting chemical and physical features {Hogerheijde, Jansen, and van Dishoeck 1995; Jansen 1995}. We propose a series of H_2 images across the bright rim of the bar. A particular position angle is chosen so that parallel exposures with the other NICMOS cameras will probe other tracers at other positions on the bar.

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