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First Science Observations with SOFIA/FORCAST: 6 TO 37 micron Imaging of Orion BN/KL

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 نشر من قبل James M. De Buizer
 تاريخ النشر 2012
  مجال البحث فيزياء
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The BN/KL region of the Orion Nebula is the nearest region of high mass star formation in our galaxy. As such, it has been the subject of intense investigation at a variety of wavelengths, which have revealed it to be brightest in the infrared to sub-mm wavelength regime. Using the newly commissioned SOFIA airborne telescope and its 5-40 micron camera FORCAST, images of the entire BN/KL complex have been acquired. The 31.5 and 37.1 micron images represent the highest resolution observations (<=4) ever obtained of this region at these wavelengths. These observations reveal that the BN object is not the dominant brightness source in the complex at wavelengths >31.5 microns, and that this distinction goes instead to the source IRc4. It was determined from these images and derived dust color temperature maps that IRc4 is also likely to be self-luminous. A new source of emission has also been identified at wavelengths >31.5 microns that coincides with the northeastern outflow lobe from the protostellar disk associated with radio source I.

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We present new mid-infrared images of the central region of the Orion Nebula using the newly commissioned SOFIA airborne telescope and its 5 -- 40 micron camera FORCAST. The 37.1 micron images represent the highest resolution observations (<4) ever o btained of this region at these wavelengths. After BN/KL (which is described in a separate letter in this issue), the dominant source at all wavelengths except 37.1 micron is the Ney-Allen Nebula, a crescent-shaped extended source associated with theta 1D. The morphology of the Ney-Allen nebula in our images is consistent with the interpretation that it is ambient dust swept up by the stellar wind from theta 1D, as suggested by Smith et al. (2005). Our observations also reveal emission from two proplyds (proto-planetary disks), and a few embedded young stellar objects (YSOs; IRc9, and OMC1S IRS1, 2, and 10). The spectral energy distribution for IRc9 is presented and fitted with standard YSO models from Robitaille et al. (2007) to constrain the total luminosity, disk size, and envelope size. The diffuse, nebular emission we observe at all FORCAST wavelengths is most likely from the background photodissociation region (PDR) and shows structure that coincides roughly with H_alpha and [N II] emission. We conclude that the spatial variations in the diffuse emission are likely due to undulations in the surface of the background PDR.
The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) completed its first light flight in May of 2010 using the facility mid-infrared instrument FORCAST. Since then, FORCAST has successfully completed thirteen science flights on SOFIA. In this paper we describe the design, operation and performance of FORCAST as it relates to the initial three Short Science flights. FORCAST was able to achieve near diffraction-limited images for lambda > 30 microns allowing unique science results from the start with SOFIA. We also describe ongoing and future modifications that will improve overall capabilities and performance of FORCAST.
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