Molecular Hydrogen As a Probe of Warm Interstellar Gas on Parsec Scales

Details Molecular Hydrogen As a Probe of Warm Interstellar Gas on Parsec Scales Molecular Hydrogen As a Probe of Warm Interstellar Gas on Parsec Scales

Jun 2005

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005sptz.prop20378b&link_type=abstract

Spitzer Proposal ID #20378

Mathematics

Logic

Scientific paper

We propose to use the Spitzer IRS spectrograph to conduct an unbiased study of emission from the pure rotational transitions of H2, S(0)-S(7), over parsec-sized scales in two clouds where star clusters are forming: NGC1333 and OMC-2. We will obtain 5 - 37 micron spectroscopic maps with high spatial resolution (3 - 11") and sensitivity over a 6' x 10' region in both sources, encompassing a least a dozen known outflows in each. This database will enable several scientific goals that cannot be met using any other instrument in the foreseeable future: (1) to search, using an unbiased survey, for an intermediate-temperature shocked component that would be unprobed by typical ground based tracers; (2) to derive a thermal map of the dominant gas component; (3) to use the H2 ortho-to-para ratio as an archeological probe of the thermal history of gas on parsec scales; (4) to characterize chemical changes in the shocked material, including the creation of gaseous H2O and CO2; and (5) to produce an unparalleled dataset that will test models of warm shocked gas, comparing the spatial distribution of the atomic tracers of dissociative shocks ([Fe II], [S I], [Si II]) with that of the molecular tracers of non-dissociative shocks (H2, H2O). We will interpret these spectroscopic maps using state-of-the-art chemical and physical models to significantly advance our understanding of shock physics and chemistry, to elucidate the interaction of outflows with the surrounding gas, and to produce an important Spitzer legacy to interstellar medium science.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Molecular Hydrogen As a Probe of Warm Interstellar Gas on Parsec Scales does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Molecular Hydrogen As a Probe of Warm Interstellar Gas on Parsec Scales, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Molecular Hydrogen As a Probe of Warm Interstellar Gas on Parsec Scales will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1167145