No Arabic abstract
We report on one of the highest sensitivity surveys for molecular lines in the frequency range 6.0 to 7.4 GHz conducted to date. The observations were done with the 305m Arecibo Telescope toward a sample of twelve intermediate/high-mass star forming regions. We searched for a large number of transitions of different molecules, including CH3OH and OH. The low RMS noise of our data (~5 mJy for most sources and transitions) allowed detection of spectral features that have not been seen in previous lower sensitivity observations of the sources, such as detection of excited OH and 6.7 GHz CH3OH absorption. A review of 6.7 GHz CH3OH detections indicates an association between absorption and radio continuum sources in high-mass star forming regions, although selection biases in targeted projects and low sensitivity of blind surveys imply incompleteness. Absorption of excited OH transitions was also detected toward three sources. In particular, we confirm a broad 6.035 GHz OH absorption feature in G34.26+0.15 characterized by an asymmetric blue-shifted wing indicative of expansion, perhaps a large scale outflow in this HII region.
The Arecibo Observatory (AO) is a multidisciplinary research and education facility that is recognized worldwide as a leading facility in astronomy, planetary, and atmospheric and space sciences. AOs cornerstone research instrument was the 305-m William E. Gordon telescope. On December 1, 2020, the 305-m telescope collapsed and was irreparably damaged. In the three weeks following the collapse, AOs scientific and engineering staff and the AO users community initiated extensive discussions on the future of the observatory. The community is in overwhelming agreement that there is a need to build an enhanced, next-generation radar-radio telescope at the AO site. From these discussions, we established the set of science requirements the new facility should enable. These requirements can be summarized briefly as: 5 MW of continuous wave transmitter power at 2 - 6 GHz, 10 MW of peak transmitter power at 430 MHz (also at 220MHz under consideration), zenith angle coverage 0 to 48 deg, frequency coverage 0.2 to 30 GHz and increased Field-of-View. These requirements determine the unique specifications of the proposed new instrument. The telescope design concept we suggest consists of a compact array of fixed dishes on a tiltable, plate-like structure with a collecting area equivalent to a 300m dish. This concept, referred to as the Next Generation Arecibo Telescope (NGAT), meets all of the desired specifications and provides significant new science capabilities to all three research groups at AO. This whitepaper presents a sample of the wide variety of the science that can be achieved with the NGAT, the details of the telescope design concept and the need for the new telescope to be located at the AO site. We also discuss other AO science activities that interlock with the NGAT in the white paper.
We present molecular line observations of 13CO and C18O J=3-2, CN N = 3 - 2, and CS J=7-6 lines in the protoplanetary disk around TW Hya at a high spatial resolution of ~9 au (angular resolution of 0.15), using the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array. A possible gas gap is found in the deprojected radial intensity profile of the integrated C18O line around a disk radius of ~58 au, slightly beyond the location of the au-scale dust clump at ~52 au, which resembles predictions from hydrodynamic simulations of planet-disk interaction. In addition, we construct models for the physical and chemical structure of the TW Hya disk, taking account of the dust surface density profile obtained from high spatial resolution dust continuum observations. As a result, the observed flat radial profile of the CN line intensities is reproduced due to a high dust-to-gas surface density ratio inside ~20 au. Meanwhile, the CO isotopologue line intensities trace high temperature gas and increase rapidly inside a disk radius of ~30 au. A model with either CO gas depletion or depletion of gas-phase oxygen elemental abundance is required to reproduce the relatively weak CO isotopologue line intensities observed in the outer disk, consistent with previous atomic and molecular line observations towards the TW Hya disk. {Further observations of line emission of carbon-bearing species, such as atomic carbon and HCN, with high spatial resolution would help to better constrain the distribution of elemental carbon abundance in the disk gas.
We observe Arp 220, the nearest Ultra-Luminous Infrared Galaxy (ULIRG), over 4 GHz in the K and Ka bands. We provide constraints for the kinematics,morphology, and identify molecular species on scales resolving both nuclei (0.6 or 230 pc). We detect multiple molecular species, including hydroxyl in both cores. We tentatively detect H2O at 21.84 GHz in both nuclei, indicating the likely presence of maser emission. The observed frequency range also contains metastable ammonia transitions from (J,K) = (1,1) to (5,5), as well as the (9,9) inversion line, which, together are a well-known thermometer of dense molecular gas. Furthermore, the non-metastable (4,2) and (10,9) and possibly the (3,1) lines are also detected. We apply a standard temperature analysis to Arp 220. However, the analysis is complicated in that standard LTE assumptions do not hold. There are indications that a substantial fraction of ammonia could be in the non-metastable transitions as opposed to only the metastable ones. Thus, the non-metastable transitions could be essential to constraining the temperature. We compare all of these data to ALMA observations of this source, confirming the outflow previously observed by other tracers in both nuclei.
We present the results from arcsecond resolution observations of various line transitions at 1.3 mm toward hypercompact HII region G28.20-0.04N. With the SMA data, we have detected and mapped the transitions in the CH$_{3}$CN, CO, $^{13}$CO, SO$_{2}$, OCS, and CH$_{3}$OH molecular lines as well as the radio recombination line H30$alpha$. The observations and analysis indicate a hot core associated with G28.20-0.04N. The outflow and possible rotation are detected in this region.
Vibration-rotation lines of H$_{2}$ from highly excited levels approaching the dissociation limit have been detected at a number of locations in the shocked gas of the Orion Molecular Cloud (OMC-1), including in a Herbig-Haro object near the tip of one of the OMC-1 fingers. Population diagrams show that while the excited H$_{2}$ is almost entirely at a kinetic temperature of $sim$1,800 K, (typical for vibrationally shock-excited H$_{2}$), as in the previously reported case of Herbig-Haro object HH 7 up to a few percent of the H$_{2}$ is at a kinetic temperature of $sim$5,000~K. The location with the largest fraction of hot H$_{2}$ is the Herbig-Haro object, where the outflowing material is moving at a higher speed than at the other locations. Although theoretical work is required for a better understanding of the 5,000 K H$_{2}$, (including how it cools), its existence and the apparent dependence of its abundance relative to that of the cooler component on the relative velocities of the outflow and the surrounding ambient gas appear broadly consistent with it having recently reformed. The existence of this high temperature H$_{2}$ appears to be a common characteristic of shock-excited molecular gas.