UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Far-infrared excited hydroxyl lines from Orion KL outflows

Goicoechea, JR; Cernicharo, J; Lerate, MR; Daniel, F; Barlow, MJ; Swinyard, BM; Lim, TL; ... Yates, J; + view all (2006) Far-infrared excited hydroxyl lines from Orion KL outflows. Astrophysical Journal , 641 (1) L49-L52. 10.1086/503799. Green open access

[thumbnail of goicoechea_orion.pdf]
Preview
Text
goicoechea_orion.pdf - Published Version
Available under License : See the attached licence file.

Download (127kB) | Preview

Abstract

As part of the first far-IR line survey toward Orion KL, we present the detection of seven new rotationally excited OH Λ-doublets (at ~48, ~65, ~71, ~79, ~98, and ~115 μm). Observations were performed with the Long Wavelength Spectrometer Fabry-Pérot on board the Infrared Space Observatory. In total, more than 20 resolved OH rotational lines, with upper energy levels up to ~620 K, have been detected at angular and velocity resolutions of ~80'' and ~33 km s-1, respectively. The OH line profiles show a complex behavior evolving from pure absorption, P Cygni type, to pure emission. We also present a large-scale, 6' declination raster in the OH 2Π3/2 J = 5/2+-3/2- and 2Π3/2 J = 7/2--5/2+ lines (at 119.441 and 84.597 μm) revealing a decrease of excitation outside the core of the cloud. From the observed profiles, mean intrinsic line widths, and velocity offsets between emission and absorption line peaks, we conclude that most of the excited OH arises from Orion outflow(s), that is, the "plateau" spectral component. We determine an averaged OH abundance relative to H2 of χ(OH) = (0.5-1.0) × 10-6, a kinetic temperature of gsim100 K, and a density of n(H2) sime 5 × 105 cm-3. Even with these conditions, the OH excitation is heavily coupled with the strong dust continuum emission from the inner "hot core" regions and from the expanding flow itself.

Type: Article
Title: Far-infrared excited hydroxyl lines from Orion KL outflows
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1086/503799
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1086/503799
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Computer Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Physics and Astronomy
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10095234
Downloads since deposit
3Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item