Lyman Spitzer

The Diffuse Interstellar Clouds toward 23 Orionis

Spectra obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph are combined with high-resolution optical spectra and UV spectra from Copernicus to study the abundances and physical conditions in the diffuse interstellar clouds seen along the line of sight to the star 23 Ori. Multiple absorption components are present for each of several distinct types of gas, which are characterized by different relative abundance and depletion patterns and physical conditions.?????Strong low-velocity (SLV) absorption, due to cool, moderately dense neutral gas and representing about 92% of the total N(H I), is seen for various neutral and singly ionized species at +20 km s-1 v? +26 km s-1. Most typically severely depleted species are less depleted by factors of 2-4, compared to the cold, dense cloud pattern found, for example, in the main components toward ? Oph.For the two strongest SLV components, T ~ 100 K and the thermal pressure log (nHT) ~ 3.1 cm-3 K; we thus have nH ~ 10-15 cm-3 and a total thickness of 12-16 pc. The adopted average SLV electron density, ne = 0.15 ? 0.05 cm-3, implies a relatively large ne/nH ~ 0.01 and thus some ionization of hydrogen in these predominantly neutral components.?????Weaker low-velocity (WLV) absorption, probably largely due to warmer neutral gas, is seen primarily for various singly ionized species at 0 km s-1 v? +30 km s-1. The depletions in the WLV gas are typically less severe by a factor of 2-3 than in the SLV gas and are somewhat similar to the warm cloud pattern seen in lines of sight with low reddening, low mean density, and/or low molecular fraction. If T ~ 3000 K for the WLV components, then we have log(nHT) ~ 4.7-4.8 cm-3 K, nH ~ 15-20 cm-3, ne ~ 0.2 cm-3, ne/nH ~ 0.01, and a total thickness of 0.7-0.9 pc.?????Absorption from a number of singly and doubly ionized species, perhaps due to a radiative shock, is seen at -108 km s-1 v? -83 km s-1. While the depletions in these ionized components are uncertain owing to unobserved ionization stages, aluminum (typically severely depleted) is probably depleted there by only a factor ~3, even at cloud velocities in excess of 100 km s-1. The individual high-velocity components typically have T ~ 8000 ? 2000 K, ne = nH ~ 0.4-0.5 cm-3, thermal pressure log(2neT) ~ 3.7-4.0 cm-3 K, and thicknesses of order 0.1 pc.?????Weak absorption components from ionized (H II) gas are seen in C II, Mg II, and Si III at intermediate velocities (-43 km s-1 v? -4 km s-1). Broad, weak absorption from the higher ions S III, C IV, Si IV, and N V is centered at -5 km s-1 v? +6 km s-1. No obvious absorption is discerned from a circumstellar H II region around 23 Ori itself.?????The large range in ne (from 0.04 to 0.95 cm-3) derived independently from nine pairs of neutral and singly ionized species in the SLV gas suggests that additional processes besides simple photoionization and radiative recombination affect the ionization balance. Charge exchange with protons may reduce the abundances of S I, Mn I, and Fe I; dissociative recombination of CH+ may help to enhance C I. The large apparent fractional ionization in the SLV and WLV gas may be due to an enhanced flux of X-rays in the Orion region, to mixing of neutral and ionized gas at the boundary of the Orion-Eridanus bubble, or perhaps (in part) to charge exchange between singly ionized atomic species and large molecules (in which case the true ne would be somewhat smaller). Comparisons of the SLV depletions and nH with those found for the strong component B (v? ~ -14 km s-1) blend toward ? Oph hint at a possible relationship between depletion and local density for relatively cold interstellar clouds. Calcium appears to be more severely depleted in warm, low density gas than has generally been assumed.?????An appendix summarizes the most reliable oscillator strengths currently available for a number of the interstellar absorption lines analyzed in this work.

Composition of interstellar clouds in the disk and halo. 3: HD 149881

In this paper we continue our investigation of diffuse clouds in the interstellar medium with an analysis of the line of sight toward the star HD 215733, located in the Galactic halo some 1700 pc below the plane. As in our previous papers, we utilize the component-fitting technique to determine velocities, velocity widths, and column densities for a variety of ions in each of the absorbing regions detected. Our data include a large number of ultraviolet absorption lines observed with the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph and ground-based observations of Ca II K absorption and H I 21 cm emission. We detect 23 components (absorbing regions) in the low-ionization species toward HD 215733 and seven components in the highly ionized species (i.e., Si3+, C3+, and N4+). The low-ion components arise in H I gas. Gas-phase abundances measured for these components follow the pattern seen for halo stars in our previous studies. These have been interpreted as indicating either that a nearly indestructible population of interstellar grains is present or that the intrinsic abundances of a number of elements in the ISM are significantly subsolar. Kinetic temperatures are estimated for 16 low-ion components. Of these, four (with the highest values of |vLSR|) are warm, with T > 1000 K; six are cold, with T < 300 K. Extensive diagnostic information includes data on the excited atoms C+ and C0, showing that in the cold clouds n(H0) 25 cm-3, with n(H0)T 2500 K cm-3. The ionization equilibrium of C0, Mg0, S0, and Ca+ gives log ne values differing systematically by up to 1 dex between these different species. Correction for these differences, together with a somewhat uncertain overall calibration with excited C+, gives values of log ne in the range from -2.1 to -2.7 for the cold clouds in the four best determined cases, and from -1.2 to -1.8 for the 3 warm clouds with measured ne. The cold cloud values yield ne/n(H0) 2 × 10-4, which suggests ionization of the heavier elements only (with all H neutral), but values higher by half a dex would also be consistent with the data. Strong absorption features of Si3+ and C3+ both appear in three components. For two of these, the ratio of b values between these two species equals the square root of the mass ratio, suggesting thermal broadening at temperatures of 6 × 105 K and 5 × 104 K. The column density ratios would require a temperature of ~8 × 104 K in collisional equilibrium.

Abundances of interstellar atoms from ultaviolet absorption lines

The equivalent widths of interstellar absorption lines of Mg II, P II, Cl I and II, Mn II, Fe II, Cu II, and Ni II, obtained in a Copernicus survey of Bohlin et al (1983) have been analyzed to yield column densities along the lines of sight. The measured depletions are clearly correlated with n sub H, the mean hydrogen column density along the line of sight. Depletions also seem to be weakly correlated with various ratios of hydrogen to extinction by dust grains and also variations of extinction with wavelength, although part of these effects are a secondary result of the correlation with n sub H. The apparent coupling of depletion to the mean density are interpreted in terms of an idealized model due to Spitzer (1985), where each element has one value of depletion in the low-density, warm, neutral gas and an enhanced, different value in cold clouds. The difference of apparent depletions for Mg, P, Cl, Mn, and Fe between warm and cold clouds averages 0.44 + or - 0.12 (rms) dex, and, after an allowance for observational errors is made, the scatter of individual depletions from the overall trend predicted by method is only about 0.10 dex. The identification of the observed apparent depletions with actual ones, while very likely, is not entirely secure, because of the possible presence of highly saturated compoents with very narrow profiles and the possible contamination of the results by H II regions.

Column densities of interstellar molecular hydrogen

Equivalent widths of some 50 lines in the 0-0 to 5-0 Lyman bands of H2 are reported in the spectra of 28 stars. Curves of growth are given and column densities for levels from J = 0 to J = 5 are tabulated, with a few values and upper limits for N(6) and N(7), together with values for b, the velocity spread parameter. In three Orion stars and in rho Leo pairs of components are detected, the difference in radial velocity is determined, and column densities are measured or estimated; tentative identifications are made with the components observed by Hobbs (1969) in the Na D-lines. Column densities for HD are given for 13 stars. Upper limits for column densities in the first and second vibrational levels are listed for several stars; the ratio of N(J = 0) in the v double prime = 1 level to that in the ground vibrational level is less than 2.4 x 10 to the minus 8th power in zeta Oph. Values of a rotational excitation temperature for the higher J levels are given for all the stars. Data are presented which show an apparent increase of velocity dispersion with J for a number of stars, as measured both from the curves of growth and from line widths.

Particle Diffusion across a Magnetic Field

Particle diffusion across a magnetic field caused by fluctuations (n the field was investigated. To simplity the problem, a uniform magnetic field of constant magnitude was considered. A steady state was assumed in which the statistical properties of plasma were independent of time, but the electric field was assumed to fluctuate over distances large compared with the radius of gyration and over times long compared to the cyclotron frequency. The positive ion waves were assumed to be traveling along tubes of force and uncorrelated in adjacent tubes. Results of this simplified analysis were applicable only for a positive ion temperature much less than the electron temperature. (M.C.G.)

Spectrophotometric results from the Copernicus satellite. I - Instrumentation and performance.

The Princeton telescope-spectrometer on the OAO spacecraft Copernicus scans stellar spectra with a resolution of about 0.05 A between 950 and 1450 A, and twice this in first order between 1650 and 3000 A. The pointing during several minutes is steady within .02 sec, and the measured photometric precision in the shorter wavelength range is limited only by the statistics of photon counts, with 14-sec counts of about 1000 on an unreddened B1 star, m(v) = 5.0, at 1100 A. In the 1650-3000 A wavelength range, phototube noise resulting from cosmic rays makes observations difficult on stars fainter than m(v) = 3.0.

A survey of ultraviolet interstellar absorption lines

A telescope-spectrometer on the Copernicus spacecraft made possible the measurement of many ultraviolet absorption lines produced by the interstellar gas. The present survey provides data on ultraviolet absorption lines in the spectra of 88 early-type stars. The stars observed are divided into four classes, including reddened stars, unreddened bright stars, moderately reddened bright stars, and unreddened and moderately reddened faint stars. Data are presented for equivalent width, W, radial velocity V, and rms line width, D, taking into account some 10 to 20 lines of N I, O I, Si II, P II, S II, Cl I, Cl II, Mn II, Fe II, Ni II, Cu II, and H2. The data are based on multiple scans for each line. Attention is given to details of observations, the data reduction procedure, and the computation of equivalent width, mean velocity, and velocity dispersion.

Spectrophotometric results from the Copernicus satellite. IV. Molecular hydrogen in interstellar space

Strong H/sub 2/ lines were measured in all 11 reddened stars STAE(B-V)> 0.101 observed; the fraction f of hydrogen gas in molecular form exceeded 10/sup - 1/. In eight out of nine unreddened stars STAE(B-V) < 0.05! there was no trace of H/sub 2/ absorption, with f less than 10/sup -7 In two stars of intermediate reddening f was between 10/sup -5/ and 10/sup -6/. The relatively large column densities in higher rotational levels, up to J = 5 or 6, corresponded to excitation temperatures mostly between 150 deg and 200 deg ; the ratios of ortho- hydrogen (J = 1) to para-hydrogen (J = 0) corresponded to lower temperatures, averaging about 80 deg . Measures of two HD lines in nine stars indicated a ratio of HD to H/sub 2/ equal to about 10/sup -6/; correction for the more rapid disruption of HD molecules, in the absence of effective optical shielding by many other such molecules, indicated that one HD molecule is formed and dissociated for about every 200 H/sub 2/ molecules. (auth)

Highly Ionized Interstellar Atoms—Heated, Cooled, or Mixed?

Recent observations with the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope, combined with Copernicus results, make possible a comparison between C+3 and O+5 interstellar column densities in both the halo and the disk of our Galaxy. The ratio N(C+3)/N(O+5) for six lines of sight in the disk is about an order of magnitude less than for five corresponding values in the halo. In the disk, the values of this ratio are in good general agreement with a variety of different models for conductive heating at an interface between hot and cool gas. As a working hypothesis we assume that this process is the dominant one for producing the observed highly ionized species in the disk. The much larger ratios for the halo lie between the ranges predicted by two different idealized models?radiative cooling of hot infalling gas and turbulent mixing of hot gas with the cool clouds past which it flows. Since both these processes should occur when hot gas flows past H I clouds in the halo, we assume tentatively that these two processes may be jointly responsible for much of the observed high ionization of halo atoms.

Spectrophotometric results from the Copernicus satellite. III - Ionization and composition of the intercloud medium.

Interstellar lines have been studied in the unreddened stars lambda Sco, upsilon Sco, alpha Leo, and alpha Eri, which are located between 20 and 150 pc from the sun. The lines are on the linear and saturated Doppler portions of the curve of growth. Preliminary analysis shows that processes producing large amounts of highly ionized species are not dominant. Doubly ionized C, N, Si, and S have been detected, but are all quite weak relative to the singly ionized species. Abundances relative to nitrogen are in the cosmic ratios or slightly lower, with some indication of general depletion of the heavier elements. Hydrogen number densities range from a measured value of 0.22 per cu cm for lambda Sco to a derived value of 0.02 per cu cm for alpha Leo assuming nitrogen to have its solar abundance relative to hydrogen.