MSX Mid infrared imaging of massive star birth environments. II: Giant HII regions

Details MSX Mid infrared imaging of massive star birth environments. II: Giant HII regions MSX Mid infrared imaging of massive star birth environments. II: Giant HII regions

2003-07-21

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0307365v3

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

11 pages, 3 figures (+ 10 figures for electronic edition). Accepted for MNRAS. Substantive revisions, including sample selecti

Scientific paper

10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.08367.x

We conduct a Galactic census of Giant HII regions, based on the all sky 6cm dataset of Kuchar & Clark, plus the kinematic distances obtained by Russeil. From an inspection of mid-IR Mid-course Space Experiment (MSX) and far-IR IRAS Sky Survey Atlas images we identify a total of 56 GHII regions in the Milky Way, of which 15% (65%) can be seen at optical (near-IR) wavelengths.The mid to far-IR fluxes from each GH {\sc ii} region are measured, and sample the thermal emission from the ubiquitous dust present within the exciting clusters of OB stars, arising from the integrated luminosity of the hot stars heating the cluster dust, for which we obtain log L(IR)=5.5-7.3 L_sun. The mid-IR 21micron spatial morphology is presented for each GHII region, and often indicates multiple emission sources, suggesting complicated cluster formation. IR colour-colour diagrams are presented, providing information about the temperature distribution and optical depth of the dust. For the clusters of our study, the dust is not optically thick to all the stellar radiation, thus the measured infra-red luminosity is lower than the L(bol). As the dust environment of a cluster begins to dissipate, the thermal emission and its optical depth ought to decrease even before the stars appreciably evolve. We see evidence of this in our empirical relationship between the integrated IR and Lyman continuum luminosities.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

MSX Mid infrared imaging of massive star birth environments. II: Giant HII regions 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 MSX Mid infrared imaging of massive star birth environments. II: Giant HII regions, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and MSX Mid infrared imaging of massive star birth environments. II: Giant HII regions will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-340591