On the Non-Equilibrium Population Distribution of E-Methanol in Dark Clouds

Details On the Non-Equilibrium Population Distribution of E-Methanol in Dark Clouds On the Non-Equilibrium Population Distribution of E-Methanol in Dark Clouds

Dec 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007aas...211.9206w&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #211, #92.06; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.887

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The goal of this project was to determine the typical distribution of rotational level populations in the k=0 ladder of E-methanol in dark clouds in order to provide another observational test for theoretical models of pumping. We used our own observations of several sources with the 12-m ARO telescope on Kitt Peak as well as the published observational results by Slysh et al. (1999). The relative level populations (excitation temperatures) were determined from the measured intensity ratios of a series of the J(0)-J(-1) transitions of E-methanol under the assumption of spontaneous, optically thin emission. We observed the J(0)-J(-1) lines in six sources: W75N, DR21N, DR21, and three positions at DR21OH. The J=1 to J=5 lines were observed for all sources and the J=7 line was observed for W75N, DR21N, and one position in DR21OH. We also used Slysh et al.'s results for the J=1 through 4 lines in 52 sources, for the J=5 line in 50 sources, for the J=6 line in 15 sources, and for the J=7 and 8 lines in 2 sources. We determined the excitation temperatures of the involved levels in the k=0 ladder relative to the 1(0) level for each source and averaged the results over the sources. The average excitation temperatures demonstrate strong evidence of overcooling in the k=0 ladder - the excitation temperature increases linearly with increasing energy, from 8 K to 35 K. Our observations confirm this tendency of overcooling. We will discuss the agreement of these results with the predictions of the current models of methanol pumping. The author thanks the technical staff of the 12-m ARO telescope for help with the observations. This project was supported by the NSF/REU grant AST-0354056 and the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association.

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