66 research outputs found
The Alignment of the Magnetic Field and Collimated Outflows in Star-forming Regions: the Case of NGC 2071
The magnetic field is believed to play a crucial role in the process of star
formation. From the support it provides during the initial collapse of
molecular clouds to the creation of strong collimated jets responsible for
large mass losses, current theories predict its importance in many different
stages during the formation of stars. Here we report on observational evidence
which tests one aspect that can be inferred from these theories: the alignment
between the local magnetic field and collimated bipolar outflows in such
environments. There is good evidence of an alignment in the case of NGC 2071.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure
Probing the Magnetic Field with Molecular Ion Spectra
Observations of the effect of the magnetic field on its environment are
usually achieved with techniques which rely on the interaction with the spin of
the particles under study. Because of the relative weakness of this effect,
extraction of the field characteristics proves to be a most challenging task.
We take a totally different approach to the problem and show that the
manifestation of the magnetic field can be directly observed by means of a
comparison of the spectra of molecular ions with those of neutral molecules.
This takes advantage of the strong cyclotron interaction between the ions and
the field, but requires the presence of flows or turbulent motion in the gas.
We compare our theory to data obtained on the OMC-1, OMC-2, OMC-3 and DR21(OH)
molecular clouds.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, 2 table
Controlling a Telescope Chopping Secondary Mirror Assembly Using a Signal Deconvolution Technique
We describe a technique for improving the response of a telescope chopping
secondary mirror assembly by using a signal processing method based on the Lucy
deconvolution technique. This technique is general and could be used for any
systems, linear or non-linear, where the transfer function(s) can be measured
with sufficient precision. We demonstrate how the method was implemented and
show results obtained at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory using different
chop throw amplitudes and frequencies. No intervention from the telescope user
is needed besides the selection of the chop throw amplitude and frequency. All
the calculations are done automatically once the appropriate command is issued
from the user interface of the observatory's main computer.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figure
The Dynamical State of the Serpens South Filamentary Infrared Dark Cloud
We present the results of N_2H^+ (J = 1-0) observations toward Serpens South, the nearest cluster-forming, infrared dark cloud. The physical quantities are derived by fitting the hyperfine structure of N_2H^+. The Herschel and 1.1 mm continuum maps show that a parsec-scale filament fragments into three clumps with radii of 0.1-0.2 pc and masses of 40-230 M_☉. We find that the clumps contain smaller-scale (~0.04 pc) structures, i.e., dense cores. We identify 70 cores by applying CLUMPFIND to the N_2H^+ data cube. In the central cluster-forming clump, the excitation temperature and line-width tend to be large, presumably due to protostellar outflow feedback and stellar radiation. However, for all the clumps, the virial ratios are evaluated to be 0.1-0.3, indicating that the internal motions play only a minor role in the clump support. The clumps exhibit no free fall but exhibit low-velocity infall, and thus the clumps should be supported by additional forces. The most promising force is the globally ordered magnetic field observed toward this region. We propose that the Serpens South filament was close to magnetically critical and ambipolar diffusion triggered the cluster formation. We find that the northern clump, which shows no active star formation, has a mass and radius comparable to the central cluster-forming clump and is therefore a likely candidate of a pre-protocluster clump. The initial condition for cluster formation is likely to be a magnetically supported clump of cold, quiescent gas. This appears to contradict the accretion-driven turbulence scenario, for which the turbulence in the clumps is maintained by the accretion flow
IRC+10216's Innermost Envelope -- The eSMA's View
We used the Extended Submillimeter Array (eSMA) in its most extended
configuration to investigate the innermost (within a radius of 290 R* from the
star) circumstellar envelope (CSE) of IRC+10216. We imaged the CSE using HCN
and other molecular lines with a beam size of 0."22 x 0."46, deeply into the
very inner edge (15 R*) of the envelope where the expansion velocity is only 3
km/s. The excitation mechanism of hot HCN and KCl maser lines is discussed. HCN
maser components are spatially resolved for the first time on an astronomical
object. We identified two discrete regions in the envelope: a region with a
radius of . 15 R*, where molecular species have just formed and the gas has
begun to be accelerated (region I) and a shell region (region II) with a radius
of 23 R* and a thickness of 15 R*, whose expansion velocity has reached up to
13 km/s, nearly the terminal velocity of 15 km/s. The SiS line detected
in region I shows a large expansion velocity of 16 km/s due to strong wing
components, indicating that the emission may arise from a shock region in the
innermost envelope. In region II, the P.A. of the most copious mass loss
direction was found to be 120 +/- 10 degrees, which may correspond to the
equatorial direction of the star. Region II contains a torus-like feature.
These two regions may have emerged due to significant differences in the size
distributions of the dust particles in the two regions.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journal. Please find the pdf at
http://www.submm.caltech.edu/~hs/astroph/0904.0280.pdf and the ps file at
http://www.submm.caltech.edu/~hs/astroph/0904.0280.p
A Comprehensive Survey of Hydrogen Chloride in the Galaxy
We report new observations of the fundamental transition of HCl (at
625.918GHz) toward a sample of 25 galactic star-forming regions, molecular
clouds, and evolved stars, carried out using the Caltech Submillimeter
Observatory. Fourteen sources in the sample are also observed in the
corresponding H\tscl\ transition (at 624.978GHz). We have obtained
clear detections in all but four of the targets, often in emission. Absorptions
against bright background continuum sources are also seen in nine cases,
usually involving a delicate balance between emission and absorption features.
From RADEX modeling, we derive gas densities and HCl column densities for
sources with HCl emission. HCl is found in a wide range of environments, with
gas densities ranging from to ~cm. The HCl abundance
relative to H is in the range of . Comparing with the
chlorine abundance in the solar neighborhood, this corresponds to a chlorine
depletion factor of up to 400, assuming that HCl accounts for one third
of the total chlorine in the gas phase. The [\tfcl]/[\tscl] isotopic ratio is
rather varied, from unity to 5, mostly lower than the terrestrial value
of 3.1. Such variation is highly localized, and could be generated by the
nucleosynthesis in supernovae, which predicts a \tscl\ deficiency in most
models. The lower ratios seen in W3IRS4 and W3IRS5 likely confine the
progenitors of the supernovae to stars with relatively large mass
(\ga25M_\sun) and high metallicity (Z0.02).Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, accepted by Ap
1.6:1 bandwidth two-layer antireflection structure for silicon matched to the 190–310 GHz atmospheric window
Although high-resistivity, low-loss silicon is an excellent material for terahertz transmission optics, its high refractive index necessitates an antireflection treatment. We fabricated a wide-bandwidth, two-layer antireflection treatment by cutting subwavelength structures into the silicon surface using multi-depth deep reactive-ion etching (DRIE). A wafer with this treatment on both sides has <−20 dB (<1%) reflectance over 187–317 GHz at a 15° angle of incidence in TE polarization. We also demonstrated that bonding wafers introduce no reflection features above the −20 dB level (also in TE at 15°), reproducing previous work. Together these developments immediately enable construction of wide-bandwidth silicon vacuum windows and represent two important steps toward gradient-index silicon optics with integral broadband antireflection treatment
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