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Register a new userFirst spectrally-resolved H$_2$ observations towards HH 54 / Low H$_2$O abundance in shocks
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Context: Herschel observations suggest that the H$_2$O distribution in outflows from low-mass stars resembles the H$_2$ emission. It is still unclear which of the different excitation components that characterise the mid- and near-IR H$_2$ distribution is associated with H$_2$O. Aim: The aim is to spectrally resolve the different excitation components observed in the H$_2$ emission. This will allow us to identify the H$_2$ counterpart associated with H$_2$O and finally derive directly an H$_2$O abundance estimate with respect to H$_2$. Methods: We present new high spectral resolution observations of H$_2$ 0-0 S(4), 0-0 S(9), and 1-0 S(1) towards HH 54, a bright nearby shock region in the southern sky. In addition, new Herschel-HIFI H$_2$O (2$_{12}$$-$1$_{01}$) observations at 1670~GHz are presented. Results: Our observations show for the first time a clear separation in velocity of the different H$_2$ lines: the 0-0 S(4) line at the lowest excitation peaks at $-$7~km~s$^{-1}$, while the more excited 0-0 S(9) and 1-0 S(1) lines peak at $-$15~km~s$^{-1}$. H$_2$O and high-$J$ CO appear to be associated with the H$_2$ 0-0 S(4) emission, which traces a gas component with a temperature of 700$-$1000 K. The H$_2$O abundance with respect to H$_2$ 0-0 S(4) is estimated to be $X$(H$_2$O)$<$1.4$times$10$^{-5}$ in the shocked gas over an area of 13$^{primeprime}$. Conclusions: We resolve two distinct gas components associated with the HH 54 shock region at different velocities and excitations. This allows us to constrain the temperature of the H$_2$O emitting gas ($leq$1000 K) and to derive correct estimates of H$_2$O abundance in the shocked gas, which is lower than what is expected from shock model predictions.
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We present a model in which the 22 GHz H$_2$O masers observed in star-forming regions occur behind shocks propagating in dense regions (preshock density $n_0 sim 10^6 - 10^8$ cm$^{-3}$). We focus on high-velocity ($v_s > 30$ km s$^{-1}$) dissociative J shocks in which the heat of H$_2$ re-formation maintains a large column of $sim 300-400$ K gas; at these temperatures the chemistry drives a considerable fraction of the oxygen not in CO to form H$_2$O. The H$_2$O column densities, the hydrogen densities, and the warm temperatures produced by these shocks are sufficiently high to enable powerful maser action. The observed brightness temperatures (generally $sim 10^{11} - 10^{14}$ K) are the result of coherent velocity regions that have dimensions in the shock plane that are 10 to 100 times the shock thickness of $sim 10^{13}$ cm. The masers are therefore beamed towards the observer, who typically views the shock edge-on, or perpendicular to the shock velocity; the brightest masers are then observed with the lowest line of sight velocities with respect to the ambient gas. We present numerical and analytic studies of the dependence of the maser inversion, the resultant brightness temperature, the maser spot size and shape, the isotropic luminosity, and the maser region magnetic field on the shock parameters and the coherence path length; the overall result is that in galactic H$_2$O 22 GHz masers these observed parameters can be produced in J shocks with $n_0sim 10^6 - 10^8$ cm$^{-3}$ and $v_s sim 30 -200$ km s$^{-1}$. A number of key observables such as maser shape, brightness temperature, and global isotropic luminosity depend only on the particle flux into the shock, $j=n_0v_s$, rather than on $n_0$ and $v_s$ separately.
Supersonic turbulence results in strong density fluctuations in the interstellar medium (ISM), which have a profound effect on the chemical structure. Particularly useful probes of the diffuse ISM are the ArH$^+$, OH$^+$, H$_2$O$^+$ molecular ions, which are highly sensitive to fluctuations in the density and the H$_2$ abundance. We use isothermal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of various sonic Mach numbers, $mathcal{M}_s$, and density decorrelation scales, $y_{rm dec}$, to model the turbulent density field. We post-process the simulations with chemical models and obtain the probability density functions (PDFs) for the H$_2$, ArH$^+$, OH$^+$ and H$_2$O$^+$ abundances. We find that the PDF dispersions increases with increasing $mathcal{M}_s$ and $y_{rm dec}$, as the magnitude of the density fluctuations increases, and as they become more coherent. Turbulence also affects the median abundances: when $mathcal{M}_s$ and $y_{rm dec}$ are high, low-density regions with low H$_2$ abundance become prevalent, resulting in an enhancement of ArH$^+$ compared to OH$^+$ and H$_2$O$^+$. We compare our models with Herschel observations. The large scatter in the observed abundances, as well as the high observed ArH$^+$/OH$^+$ and ArH$^+$/H$_2$O$^+$ ratios are naturally reproduced by our supersonic $(mathcal{M}_s=4.5)$, large decorrelation scale $(y_{rm dec}=0.8)$ model, supporting a scenario of a large-scale turbulence driving. The abundances also depend on the UV intensity, CR ionization rate, and the cloud column density, and the observed scatter may be influenced by fluctuations in these parameters.
The modelling of emission spectra of molecules seen in interstellar clouds requires the knowledge of collisional rate coefficients. Among the commonly observed species, N$_2$H$^+$ is of particular interest since it was shown to be a good probe of the physical conditions of cold molecular clouds. Thus, we have calculated hyperfine-structure resolved excitation rate coefficients of N$_2$H$^+$(X$^1Sigma^+$) by H$_2(j=0)$, the most abundant collisional partner in the cold interstellar medium. The calculations are based on a new potential energy surface, obtained from highly correlated {it ab initio} calculations. State-to-state rate coefficients between the first hyperfine levels were calculated, for temperatures ranging from 5 K to 70 K. By comparison with previously published N$_2$H$^+$-He rate coefficients, we found significant differences which cannot be reproduced by a simple scaling relationship. As a first application, we also performed radiative transfer calculations, for physical conditions typical of cold molecular clouds. We found that the simulated line intensities significantly increase when using the new H$_2$ rate coefficients, by comparison with the predictions based on the He rate coefficients. In particular, we revisited the modelling of the N$_2$H$^+$ emission in the LDN 183 core, using the new collisional data, and found that all three of the density, gas kinetic temperature and N$_2$H$^+$ abundance had to be revised.
The earliest atmospheres of rocky planets originate from extensive volatile release during magma ocean epochs that occur during assembly of the planet. These establish the initial distribution of the major volatile elements between different chemical reservoirs that subsequently evolve via geological cycles. Current theoretical techniques are limited in exploring the anticipated range of compositional and thermal scenarios of early planetary evolution, even though these are of prime importance to aid astronomical inferences on the environmental context and geological history of extrasolar planets. Here, we present a coupled numerical framework that links an evolutionary, vertically-resolved model of the planetary silicate mantle with a radiative-convective model of the atmosphere. Using this method we investigate the early evolution of idealized Earth-sized rocky planets with end-member, clear-sky atmospheres dominated by either H$_2$, H$_2$O, CO$_2$, CH$_4$, CO, O$_2$, or N$_2$. We find central metrics of early planetary evolution, such as energy gradient, sequence of mantle solidification, surface pressure, or vertical stratification of the atmosphere, to be intimately controlled by the dominant volatile and outgassing history of the planet. Thermal sequences fall into three general classes with increasing cooling timescale: CO, N$_2$, and O$_2$ with minimal effect, H$_2$O, CO$_2$, and CH$_4$ with intermediate influence, and H$_2$ with several orders of magnitude increase in solidification time and atmosphere vertical stratification. Our numerical experiments exemplify the capabilities of the presented modeling framework and link the interior and atmospheric evolution of rocky exoplanets with multi-wavelength astronomical observations.
We report observations of the reactive molecular ions OH$^+$, H$_2$O$^+$, and H$_3$O$^+$ towards Orion KL with Herschel/HIFI. All three $N=1-0$ fine-structure transitions of OH$^+$ at 909, 971, and 1033GHz and both fine-structure components of the doublet {it ortho}-H$_2$O$^+$ $1_{11}-0_{00}$ transition at 1115 and 1139GHz were detected; an upper limit was obtained for H$_3$O$^+$. OH$^+$ and H$_2$O$^+$ are observed purely in absorption, showing a narrow component at the source velocity of 9 kms$^{-1}$, and a broad blueshifted absorption similar to that reported recently for HF and {it para}-H$_{2}^{18}$O, and attributed to the low velocity outflow of Orion KL. We estimate column densities of OH$^+$ and H$_2$O$^+$ for the 9 km s$^{-1}$ component of $9 pm 3 times 10^{12}$cm$^{-2}$ and $7 pm 2 times 10^{12}$cm$^{-2}$, and those in the outflow of $1.9 pm 0.7 times 10^{13}$cm$^{-2}$ and $1.0 pm 0.3 times 10^{13}$cm$^{-2}$. Upper limits of $2.4times 10^{12}$cm$^{-2}$ and $8.7times 10^{12}$cm$^{-2}$ were derived for the column densities of {it ortho} and {it para}-H$_3$O$^+$ from transitions near 985 and 1657GHz. The column densities of the three ions are up to an order of magnitude lower than those obtained from recent observations of W31C and W49N. The comparatively low column densities may be explained by a higher gas density despite the assumption of a very high ionization rate.
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