EDP Sciences Journals List
Advanced Search
Subscriber Authentication Point
Home All issues Volume 459/3 Article
Free access article

Issue A&A
Volume 459, Number 3, December I 2006
Page(s) 821 - 835
Section Interstellar and circumstellar matter
DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20065127



A&A 459, 821-835 (2006)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20065127

Molecular line emission in HH54: a coherent view from near to far infrared

T. Giannini1, C. McCoey2, B. Nisini1, S. Cabrit3, A. Caratti o Garatti4, L. Calzoletti1, 5, and D. R. Flower6

1  INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, via Frascati 33, 00040 Monte Porzio Catone, Italy
    e-mail: [giannini;nisini;calzol]@oa-roma.inaf.it
2  Department of Physics, University of Waterloo 200, University Avenue W., Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada
    e-mail: cmccoey@astro.uwaterloo.ca
3  LERMA, Observatoire de Paris, UMR 8112, 75014 Paris, France
    e-mail: sylvie.cabrit@obspm.fr
4  Thüringer Landessternwarte, Sternwarte 5, 07778 Tautenburg, Germany
    e-mail: caratti@tls-tautenburg.de
5  Università di Cagliari, via Università 40, 09124 Cagliari, Italy
6  Physics Department, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
    e-mail: david.flower@durham.ac.uk

(Received 2 March 2006 / Accepted 23 August 2006 )

Abstract
Aims.We present a detailed study of the infrared line emission (1-200 $\mu$m) in the Herbig-Haro object HH54. Our database comprises: high- (R ~ 9000) and low- (R ~ 600) resolution spectroscopic data in the near-infrared band (1-2.5 $\mu$m); mid-infrared spectrophotometric images (5-12 $\mu$m); and, far-IR (45-200 $\mu$m, R ~ 200) spectra acquired with the ISO satellite. As a result, we provide the detection of and the absolute fluxes for more than 60 molecular features (mainly from H2 in the near- and mid-infrared and from H2O, CO and OH in the far-infrared) and 23 ionic lines.
Methods.The H2 lines, coming from levels from v = 0 to v = 4 have been interpreted in the context of a state-of-the-art shock code, whose output parameters are adopted as input to a Large Velocity Gradient computation in order to interpret the FIR emission of CO, H2O and OH.
Results.The H2 emission can be interpreted as originating in either steady-state J-type shocks or in quasi-steady J-type shocks with magnetic precursor. However, our multi-species analysis shows that only a model of a J-type shock with magnetic precursor ( $v_{{\rm shock}}$ = 18 km s-1, $n_{{\rm H}}$ = 104 cm-3, B = 100 $\mu$G, age = 400 yr) can account for both the observed H2 emission and the CO and H2O lines. Such a model predicts a H2O abundance of ~7 $\times$ 10-5, in agreement with estimations from other shock models of outflows associated with low mass protostars. We can exclude the possibility that the observed atomic lines arise in the same shock as the molecular lines, and give arguments in favour of the presence of a further high-velocity, fully dissociative shock component in the region. Finally, in view of the forthcoming spectroscopic facilities on board of the Herschel satellite, we provide predictions for H2O lines considered to be the most suitable for diagnostic purposes.


Key words: stars: circumstellar matter -- infrared: ISM -- ISM: Herbig-Haro objects -- ISM: individual objects: HH54 -- ISM: jets and outflows



© ESO 2006


What is OpenURL?

The OpenURL standard is a protocol for transmission of metadata describing the resource that you wish to access. An OpenURL link contains article metadata and directs it to the OpenURL server of your choice. The OpenURL server can provide access to the resource and also offer complementary services (specific search engine, export of references...). The OpenURL link can be generated by different means.
  • If your librarian has set up your subscription with an OpenURL resolver, OpenURL links appear automatically on the abstract pages.
  • You can define your own OpenURL resolver with your EDPS Account. In this case your choice will be given priority over that of your library.
  • You can use an add-on for your browser (Firefox or I.E.) to display OpenURL links on a page (see http://www.openly.com/openurlref/). You should disable this module if you wish to use the OpenURL server that you or your library have defined.