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Ultraviolet Survey of CO and H2 in Diffuse Molecular Clouds: The Reflection of Two Photochemistry Regimes in Abundance Relationships
We carried out a comprehensive far-UV survey of 12CO andH2 column densities along diffuse molecular Galactic sightlines. This sample includes new measurements of CO from HST spectraalong 62 sight lines and new measurements of H2 from FUSEdata along 58 sight lines. In addition, high-resolution optical datawere obtained at the McDonald and European Southern Observatories,yielding new abundances for CH, CH+, and CN along 42 sightlines to aid in interpreting the CO results. These new sight lines wereselected according to detectable amounts of CO in their spectra andprovide information on both lower density (<=100 cm-3) andhigher density diffuse clouds. A plot of logN(CO) versuslogN(H2) shows that two power-law relationships are neededfor a good fit of the entire sample, with a break located atlogN(CO,cm-2)=14.1 and logN(H2)=20.4,corresponding to a change in production route for CO in higher densitygas. Similar logarithmic plots among all five diatomic molecules revealadditional examples of dual slopes in the cases of CO versus CH (breakat logN=14.1, 13.0), CH+ versus H2 (13.1, 20.3),and CH+ versus CO (13.2, 14.1). We employ both analytical andnumerical chemical schemes in order to derive details of the molecularenvironments. In the denser gas, where C2 and CN moleculesalso reside, reactions involving C+ and OH are the dominantfactor leading to CO formation via equilibrium chemistry. In thelow-density gas, where equilibrium chemistry studies have failed toreproduce the abundance of CH+, our numerical analysis showsthat nonequilibrium chemistry must be employed for correctly predictingthe abundances of both CH+ and CO.
| A Hot Envelope around the Southern Coalsack: X-Ray and Far-Ultraviolet Observations
We present Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer and ROSAT X-rayobservations toward the Southern Coalsack. An almost complete X-ray halocan be seen around the cloud in the 0.75 and 1.5 keV images, and most ofthe observed stars show O VI absorption. Both the cloud and the starshave highly accurate distance determinations, allowing us to reliablyplace the stars and the cloud relative to each other. Using thesedistance determinations, we find no O VI-bearing gas in the foregroundof the Coalsack, while for stars in the background of the cloud, O VIabsorption is the norm. The column density of O VI correlates with the0.75 and 1.5 keV intensities. These results suggest that theX-ray-emitting hot plasma is associated with the dense cloud. We proposethat the heating of the Coalsack envelope is due to the hot gas in theinterior of the Upper Cen-Lup superbubble. The Coalsack interactionregion provides a nearby example of the hot-cold gas interfaces thoughtto be responsible for the O VI absorptions seen on many sight linesthroughout the Galaxy.
| Ultra-high-resolution observations of CH in Southern Molecular Cloud envelopes
We present a mini-survey of ultrahigh-resolution spectroscopy (UHRS) ofCH towards three southern molecular cloud envelopes. The sightlines areselected to probe physically similar gas in different Galacticenvironments. With a velocity resolution of ~0.5kms-1(R=575000) these observations resolve most kinematic components of theabsorption lines. We do, however, detect one line component in the Lupusregion, which is not resolved and for which an upper limit ofb<0.3kms-1 is found. We find a correlation betweendistance of the absorbing gas from the Galactic mid-plane and thefractional abundance of CH. We show that this correlation can beexplained as being a result of a fall-off in the ultraviolet radiationfield intensity and propose that CH observations in carefully selectedsightlines might allow a mapping of the variations in the interstellarradiation field.
| The distance and structure of the Coalsack. I - Photometric data
The results of UBV and H-beta photometry for 284 stars of spectral typesB to F located in the area of the dark cloud Coalsack are presented.Most of the present stars are brighter than 10.0 mag and are classifiedin the MK system of Houk and Cowley (1975). For each star, the bestvalues for the extinction and distance modulus are provided, withtypical estimated errors of + or - 0.08 mag for the extinction and + or- 0.32 mag for the distance modulus. Possible misclassifications andspectral peculiarities are noted for several of the stars.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Musca |
| Right ascension: | 12h42m49.46s |
| Declination: | -66°27'27.8" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 7.567 |
| Distance: | 374.532 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | -13.5 |
| Proper motion Dec: | -2.9 |
| B-T magnitude: | 7.537 |
| V-T magnitude: | 7.565 |
Catalogs and designations:
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INHABITED SKY
