Issue |
A&A
Volume 454, Number 1, July IV 2006
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | 213 - 219 | |
Section | Interstellar and circumstellar matter | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20053533 | |
Published online | 03 July 2006 |
Submillimeter imaging spectroscopy of the Horsehead nebula
1
Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany e-mail: sphilipp@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de
2
California Institute of Technology, Downs Laboratory of Physics 320-47, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Received:
30
May
2005
Accepted:
16
March
2006
We present ~15 arcsecond resolution single-dish
imaging of the Horsehead nebula in the Ci (1–0) and CO (4-3)
lines, carried out using the CHAMP array at the Caltech Submillimeter
Observatory (CSO). The data are used together with supporting
observations of the (2-1) transitions of the CO isotopologues to
determine the physical conditions in the atomic and molecular gas via
Photon Dominated Region (PDR) modeling. The CO (4-3)/(2-1) line
ratio, which is an excellent tracer of the direction of the incoming
UV photons, increases at the western and northern edges of the nebula,
confirming that the illumination is provided mostly by the stars
σ and ζ Orionis. The observed line intensities are
consistent with PDR models with an H nuclei volume density of cm-3. The models predict a kinetic temperature of
~12 K and a C18O fractional abundance with respect to H atoms
of
in the shielded region, which in turn imply a
total molecular mass of ~24 M
in the C18O filament. The
outer halo, devoid of C18O, but traced by the Ci emission has a
comparable density and contributes additional ~13 M
of
material, resulting in an upper limit of ~37 M
for the
total molecular mass of the nebula.
Key words: ISM: individual: objects: Horsehead nebula / ISM: molecules / ISM: structure / ISM: abundances / ISM: clouds / stars: formation
© ESO, 2006
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