We report additional detections of the chloronium molecular ion, H$_2$Cl$^+$, toward four bright submillimeter continuum sources: G29.96, W49N, W51, and W3(OH). With the use of the HIFI instrument on the Herschel Space Observatory, we observed the $2
_{12}-1_{01}$ transition of ortho-H$_2^{35}$Cl$^+$ at 781.627 GHz in absorption toward all four sources. Much of the detected absorption arises in diffuse foreground clouds that are unassociated with the background continuum sources and in which our best estimates of the $N({rm H_2Cl^+})/N({rm H})$ ratio lie in the range $(0.9 - 4.8) times 10^{-9}$. These chloronium abundances relative to atomic hydrogen can exceed the predictions of current astrochemical models by up to a factor of 5. Toward W49N, we have also detected the $2_{12}-1_{01}$ transition of ortho-H$_2^{37}$Cl$^+$ at 780.053 GHz and the $1_{11}-0_{00}$ transition of para-H$_2^{35}$Cl$^+$ at 485.418 GHz. These observations imply $rm H_2^{35}Cl^+/H_2^{37}Cl^+$ column density ratios that are consistent with the solar system $^{35}$Cl/$^{37}$Cl isotopic ratio of 3.1, and chloronium ortho-to-para ratios consistent with 3, the ratio of spin statistical weights.
We describe the assignment of a previously unidentified interstellar absorption line to ArH$^+$ and discuss its relevance in the context of hydride absorption in diffuse gas with a low H$_2$ fraction. The column densities along several lines of sight
are determined and discussd in the framework of chemical models. The column densities of ArH$^+$ are compared to those of other species, tracing interstellar medium (ISM) components with different H$_2$ abundances. Chemical models are constructed, taking UV radiation and cosmic ray ionization into account. Due to the detection of two isotopologues, $^{36}$ArH$^+$ and $^{38}$ArH$^+$, we are confident about the carrier assignment to ArH$^+$. NeH$^+$ is not detected with a limit of [NeH$^+$]/[ArH$^+$] $le$ 0.1. The derived column densities agree well with the predictions of chemical models. ArH$^+$ is a unique tracer of gas with a fractional H$_2$ abundance of $10^{-4}- 10^{-3}$ and shows little correlation with H$_2$O$^+$, which traces gas with a fractional H$_2$ abundance of $approx $0.1. A careful analysis of variations in the ArH$^+$, OH$^+$, H$_2$O$^+$ and HF column densities promises to be a faithful tracer of the distribution of the H$_2$ fractional abundance, providing unique information on a poorly known phase in the cycle of interstellar matter, its transition from atomic diffuse gas to dense molecular gas traced by CO emission. Abundances of these species put strong observational constraints upon magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) simulations of the interstellar medium, and potentially could evolve into a tool to characterize the ISM. Paradoxically, the ArH$^+$ molecule is a better tracer of ew{almost} purely atomic hydrogen gas than H{sc i} itself, since H{sc i} can also be present in gas with a significant molecular content, but ArH$^+$ singles out gas that is $>99.9$% atomic.
Using the Herschel Space Observatorys Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared (HIFI), we have performed mapping observations of the 620.701 GHz 5(32)-4(41) transition of ortho-H2O within a roughly 1.5 x 1.5 arcmin region encompassing the Kleinmann
-Low nebula in Orion, and pointed observations of that transition toward the Orion South condensation and the W49N region of high-mass star formation. Using the Effelsberg 100 m radio telescope, we obtained ancillary observations of the 22.23508 GHz 6(16)-5(23) water maser transition; in the case of Orion-KL, the 621 GHz and 22 GHz observations were carried out within 10 days of each other. The 621 GHz water line emission shows clear evidence for strong maser amplication in all three sources, exhibiting narrow (roughly 1 km/s FWHM) emission features that are coincident (kinematically and/or spatially) with observed 22 GHz features. Moreover, in the case of W49N - for which observations were available at three epochs spanning a two year period - the spectra exhibited variability. The observed 621 GHz/22 GHz line ratios are consistent with a maser pumping model in which the population
Using the Herschel Space Observatorys Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared (HIFI), we have observed para-chloronium (H2Cl+) toward six sources in the Galaxy. We detected interstellar chloronium absorption in foreground molecular clouds along th
e sight-lines to the bright submillimeter continuum sources Sgr A (+50 km/s cloud) and W31C. Both the para-H2-35Cl+ and para-H2-37Cl+ isotopologues were detected, through observations of their 1(11)-0(00) transitions at rest frequencies of 485.42 and 484.23 GHz, respectively. For an assumed ortho-to-para ratio of 3, the observed optical depths imply that chloronium accounts for ~ 4 - 12% of chlorine nuclei in the gas phase. We detected interstellar chloronium emission from two sources in the Orion Molecular Cloud 1: the Orion Bar photodissociation region and the Orion South condensation. For an assumed ortho-to-para ratio of 3 for chloronium, the observed emission line fluxes imply total beam-averaged column densities of ~ 2.0E+13 cm-2 and ~ 1.2E+13 cm-2, respectively, for chloronium in these two sources. We obtained upper limits on the para-H2-35Cl+ line strengths toward H2 Peak 1 in the Orion Molecular cloud and toward the massive young star AFGL 2591. The chloronium abundances inferred in this study are typically at least a factor ~10 larger than the predictions of steady-state theoretical models for the chemistry of interstellar molecules containing chlorine. Several explanations for this discrepancy were investigated, but none has proven satisfactory, and thus the large observed abundances of chloronium remain puzzling.
We present mid-infrared spectral maps of the NGC 1333 star forming region, obtained with the the Infrared Spectrometer on board the Spitzer Space Telescope. Eight pure H2 rotational lines, from S (0) to S (7), are detected and mapped. The H2 emission
appears to be associated with the warm gas shocked by the multiple outflows present in the region. A comparison between the observed intensities and the predictions of detailed shock models indicates that the emission arises in both slow (12 - 24 km/s) and fast (36 - 53 km/s) C-type shocks with an initial ortho-to-para ratio of ~ 1. The present H2 ortho-to-para ratio exhibits a large degree of spatial variations. In the post-shocked gas, it is usually about 2, i.e. close to the equilibrium value (~ 3). However, around at least two outflows, we observe a region with a much lower (~ 0.5) ortho-to-para ratio. This region probably corresponds to gas which has been heated-up recently by the passage of a shock front, but whose ortho-to-para has not reached equilibrium yet. This, together with the low initial ortho-to-para ratio needed to reproduce the observed emission, provide strong evidence that H2 is mostly in para form in cold molecular clouds. The H2 lines are found to contribute to 25 - 50% of the total outflow luminosity, and thus can be used to ascertain the importance of star formation feedback on the natal cloud. From these lines, we determine the outflow mass loss rate and, indirectly, the stellar infall rate, the outflow momentum and the kinetic energy injected into the cloud over the embedded phase. The latter is found to exceed the binding energy of individual cores, suggesting that outflows could be the main mechanism for core disruption.
