ﻻ يوجد ملخص باللغة العربية
We develop a self-consistent model for the equilibrium gas temperature and size-dependent dust temperature in cold, dense pre-stellar cores, assuming an arbitrary power-law size distribution of dust grains. Compact analytical expressions applicable to a broad range of physical parameters are derived and compared with predictions of the commonly used standard model. It is suggested that combining the theoretical results with observations should allow us to constrain the degree of dust evolution and the cosmic-ray ionization rate in dense cores, and to help in discriminating between different regimes of cosmic-ray transport in molecular clouds. In particular, assuming a canonical MRN distribution of grain sizes, our theory demonstrates that the gas temperature measurements in the pre-stellar core L1544 are consistent with an ionization rate as high as $sim 10^{-16}$ s$^{-1}$, an order of magnitude higher than previously thought.
Dust grains are the building {blocks} of future planets. They evolve in size, shape and composition during the life cycle of the interstellar medium. We seek to understand the process which leads from diffuse medium grains to dust grains in the vicin
The cosmic-ray ionization rate ($zeta$, s$^{-1}$) plays an important role in the interstellar medium. It controls ion-molecular chemistry and provides a source of heating. Here we perform a grid of calculations using the spectral synthesis code CLOUD
We investigate the uncertainties affecting the temperature profiles of dense cores of interstellar clouds. In regions shielded from external ultraviolet radiation, the problem is reduced to the balance between cosmic ray heating, line cooling, and th
High levels of deuterium fractionation of $rm N_2H^+$ (i.e., $rm D_{frac}^{N_2H^+} gtrsim 0.1$) are often observed in pre-stellar cores (PSCs) and detection of $rm N_2D^+$ is a promising method to identify elusive massive PSCs. However, the physical
We show Akari data, Herschel data and data from the SCUBA2 camera on JCMT, of molecular clouds. We focus on pre-stellar cores within the clouds. We present Akari data of the L1147-1157 ring in Cepheus and show how the data indicate that the cores are