CI, CO and 790 μm continuum observations of the Orion molecular cloud and ionisation bar

The spatial distributions of the 3P1-3P0 atomic fine structure of carbon (CI), the CO J=4-3,the CO J=2→1 transitions of CO, 13CO, C18O and C17O and the 790 μm continuum emission have been mapped towards the central region of the Orion molecular cloud (OMC1 cloud), and the Bright Bar ionisation front. The CO data are analysed in a consistent way, allowing the inter isotopomeric abundance ratios to be studied over a wide range of extinction values. The 13CO lines are optically thick; the 13CO abundance being enhanced because of strong isotopic fractionation near the Bright Bar, but less convincingly in the OMC1 cloud. The fractionation occurs mostly in the less opaque regions where the 13CO column density N(13CO) may be enhanced by up to one order of magnitude, relative to the more shielded parts. No isotope selective enhancement of the other CO isotopomers was seen; C18O may in fact show a slight depletion in more exposed material. The C18O and C17O lines are optically thin, and correlated with the 790 μm dust continuum emission. The CI emission comes from hot optically thin gas; the abundance ratios of CI/CO are typically 0.05-0.3, with the larger ratios towards the northern section of the Orion ridge. The CI abundance ratios remain high along the edge of the Bright Bar which is adjacent to the HII region (and the Trapezium cluster which excites it), but decrease in the dense shielded material behind the Bar

Constraining the geometry of the reflection nebula NGC 2023 with [O I]: Emission & Absorption

We have mapped the NGC 2023 reflection nebula in the 63 and 145 micron transitions of [O I] and the 158 micron [C II] spectral lines using the heterodyne receiver upGREAT on SOFIA. The observations were used to identify the diffuse and dense components of the PDR traced by the [C II] and [O I] emission, respectively. The velocity-resolved observations reveal the presence of a significant column of low-excitation atomic oxygen, seen in absorption in the [O I] 63 micron spectra, amounting to about 20-60% of the oxygen column seen in emission in the [O I] 145 micron spectra. Some self-absorption is also seen in [C II], but for the most part it is hardly noticeable. The [C II] and [O I] 63 micron spectra show strong red- and blue-shifted wings due to photo evaporation flows especially in the southeastern and southern part of the reflection nebula, where comparison with the mid- and high-J CO emission indicates that the C+ region is expanding into a dense molecular cloud. Using a two-slab toy model the large-scale self-absorption seen in [O I] 63 micron is readily explained as originating in foreground low-excitation gas associated with the source. Similar columns have also been observed recently in other Galactic photon-dominated-regions (PDRs). These results have two implications: for the velocity-unresolved extra-galactic observations this could impact the use of [O I] 63 micron as a tracer of massive star formation and secondly the widespread self-absorption in [O I] 63 micron leads to underestimate of the column density of atomic oxygen derived from this tracer and necessitates the use of alternative indirect methods.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA

Capabilities, Performance, and Status of the SOFIA Science Instrument Suite

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is an airborne observatory, carrying a 2.5 m telescope onboard a heavily modified Boeing 747SP aircraft. SOFIA is optimized for operation at infrared wavelengths, much of which is obscured for ground-based observatories by atmospheric water vapor. The SOFIA science instrument complement consists of seven instruments: FORCAST (Faint Object InfraRed CAmera for the SOFIA Telescope), GREAT (German Receiver for Astronomy at Terahertz Frequencies), HIPO (High-speed Imaging Photometer for Occultations), FLITECAM (First Light Infrared Test Experiment CAMera), FIFI-LS (Far-Infrared Field-Imaging Line Spectrometer), EXES (Echelon-Cross-Echelle Spectrograph), and HAWC (High-resolution Airborne Wideband Camera). FORCAST is a 540 m imager with grism spectroscopy, developed at Cornell University. GREAT is a heterodyne spectrometer providing high-resolution spectroscopy in several bands from 60240 m, developed at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy. HIPO is a 0.31.1 m imager, developed at Lowell Observatory. FLITECAM is a 15 m wide-field imager with grism spectroscopy, developed at UCLA. FIFI-LS is a 42210 m integral field imaging grating spectrometer, developed at the University of Stuttgart. EXES is a 528 m high-resolution spectrograph, developed at UC Davis and NASA ARC. HAWC is a 50240 m imager, developed at the University of Chicago, and undergoing an upgrade at JPL to add polarimetry capability and substantially larger GSFC detectors. We describe the capabilities, performance, and status of each instrument, highlighting science results obtained using FORCAST, GREAT, and HIPO during SOFIA Early Science observations conducted in 2011