Excitation Conditions in Molecular Clouds

1984 ◽  
pp. 177-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Winnewisser ◽  
H Ungerechts
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Clouds ◽  
Excitation Conditions

scholarly journals Molecules in the Magellanic Clouds

1991 ◽  
Vol 148 ◽  
pp. 415-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. S. Booth ◽  
Th. De Graauw
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Molecular Clouds ◽  
Short Review ◽  
Large Magellanic Cloud ◽  
Magellanic Cloud ◽  
Magellanic Clouds ◽  
Giant Molecular Clouds ◽  
Interstellar Molecules ◽  
First Time ◽  
Excitation Conditions

In this short review we describe recent new observations of millimetre transitions of molecules in selected regions of the Magellanic Clouds. The observations were made using the Swedish-ESO Submillimetre Telescope, SEST, (Booth et al. 1989), the relatively high resolution of which facilitates, for the first time, observations of individual giant molecular clouds in the Magellanic Clouds. We have mapped the distribution of the emission from the two lowest rotational transitions of 12CO and 13CO and hence have derived excitation conditions for the molecule. In addition, we have observed several well-known interstellar molecules in the same regions, thus doubling the number of known molecules in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The fact that all the observations have been made under controlled conditions with the same telescope enables a reasonable intercomparison of the molecular column densities. In particular, we are able to observe the relative abundances among the different isotopically substituted species of CO.

scholarly journals Signatures of turbulence in the dense interstellar medium

1991 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
pp. 119-136
Author(s):  
E. Falgarone ◽  
T.G. Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Interstellar Medium ◽  
Turbulent Flows ◽  
Fractal Geometry ◽  
Molecular Clouds ◽  
Large Range ◽  
Line Profiles ◽  
Physical Processes ◽  
Molecular Line ◽  
Scale Size ◽  
Excitation Conditions

We present an ensemble of recent observational results on molecular clouds which, taken separately, could all be understood by invoking various unrelated physical processes, but taken all together form a coherent ensemble stressing the imprints of turbulence in the physics of the cold interstellar medium. These results are first, the existence of wings in the molecular line profiles, which can be interpreted on statistical grounds as the signature of the intermittency of the velocity field in turbulent flows, second the fractal geometry of the cloud edges, with properties reminiscent of those of various surfaces studied in turbulent laboratory flows, and third, the fact that the dense gas fills only a very small fraction of the space. The last points are supported by CO multitransition observations of a few fields in nearby molecular clouds. They show that the excitation conditions are the same for the gas emitting in the linewings and in the linecores and are also remarkably uniform over a large range (factor 10) of column densities. An attractive interpretation of the molecular line data is that most of the 12CO(J=2—1) and (J=3—2) emissions arise in cold (Tk ≥ 10K) and dense (nH2 ∼ 104cm—3 or more) structures distributed on a fractal set with no characteristic scale size greater than about 1000 AU.

scholarly journals Signatures of turbulence in the dense interstellar medium

1991 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
pp. 119-136
Author(s):  
E. Falgarone ◽  
T.G. Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Interstellar Medium ◽  
Turbulent Flows ◽  
Fractal Geometry ◽  
Molecular Clouds ◽  
Large Range ◽  
Line Profiles ◽  
Physical Processes ◽  
Molecular Line ◽  
Scale Size ◽  
Excitation Conditions

We present an ensemble of recent observational results on molecular clouds which, taken separately, could all be understood by invoking various unrelated physical processes, but taken all together form a coherent ensemble stressing the imprints of turbulence in the physics of the cold interstellar medium. These results are first, the existence of wings in the molecular line profiles, which can be interpreted on statistical grounds as the signature of the intermittency of the velocity field in turbulent flows, second the fractal geometry of the cloud edges, with properties reminiscent of those of various surfaces studied in turbulent laboratory flows, and third, the fact that the dense gas fills only a very small fraction of the space. The last points are supported by CO multitransition observations of a few fields in nearby molecular clouds. They show that the excitation conditions are the same for the gas emitting in the linewings and in the linecores and are also remarkably uniform over a large range (factor 10) of column densities. An attractive interpretation of the molecular line data is that most of the 12CO(J=2—1) and (J=3—2) emissions arise in cold (Tk ≥ 10K) and dense (nH2 ∼ 104cm—3 or more) structures distributed on a fractal set with no characteristic scale size greater than about 1000 AU.

A New Numerical Model for Electron-Probe Analysis at High Depth Resolution

1996 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 490-491
Author(s):  
P.-F. Staub ◽  
C. Bonnelle ◽  
F. Vergand ◽  
P. Jonnard
Keyword(s):  
Electron Probe ◽  
Surface Segregation ◽  
Depth Distribution ◽  
Computing Time ◽  
Depth Resolution ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Electron Probe Analysis ◽  
Interface Phases ◽  
Excitation Conditions ◽  
High Depth

Characterizing dimensionally and chemically nanometric structures such as surface segregation or interface phases can be performed efficiently using electron probe (EP) techniques at very low excitation conditions, i.e. using small incident energies (0.5<E0<5 keV) and low incident overvoltages (1<U0<1.7). In such extreme conditions, classical analytical EP models are generally pushed to their validity limits in terms of accuracy and physical consistency, and Monte-Carlo simulations are not convenient solutions as routine tools, because of their cost in computing time. In this context, we have developed an intermediate procedure, called IntriX, in which the ionization depth distributions Φ(ρz) are numerically reconstructed by integration of basic macroscopic physical parameters describing the electron beam/matter interaction, all of them being available under pre-established analytical forms. IntriX’s procedure consists in dividing the ionization depth distribution into three separate contributions:

Structure of the turbulent atomic gas and formation of molecular clouds

2008 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 15-18
Author(s):  
P. Hennebelle ◽  
E. Audit
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Clouds ◽  
Atomic Gas
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document