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Detection of OH+ and H2O+ towards Orion KL
We report observations of the reactive molecular ions OH+, H2O+, and H3O+ towards Orion KL with Herschel/HIFI. All three N = 1-0 fine-structure transitions of OH+ at 909, 971, and 1033 GHz and both fine-structure components of the doublet ortho-H2O+ 111–000 transition at 1115 and 1139 GHz were detected; an upper limit was obtained for H3O+. OH+ and H2O+ are observed purely in absorption, showing a narrow component at the source velocity of 9 km s-1, and a broad blueshifted absorption similar to that reported recently for HF and para-H218O, and attributed to the low velocity outflow of Orion KL. We estimate column densities of OH+ and H2O+ for the 9 km s-1 component of 9 ± 3 × 1012 cm-2 and 7 ± 2 × 1012 cm-2, and those in the outflow of 1.9 ± 0.7 × 1013 cm-2 and 1.0 ± 0.3 × 1013 cm-2. Upper limits of 2.4 × 1012 cm-2 and 8.7 × 1012 cm-2 were derived for the column densities of ortho and para-H3O+ from transitions near 985 and 1657 GHz. The column densities of the three ions are up to an order of magnitude lower than those obtained from recent observations of W31C and W49N. The comparatively low column densities may be explained by a higher gas density despite the assumption of a very high ionization rate
Low upper limits on the O 2 abundance from the Odin satellite
For the first time, a search has been conducted in our Galaxy for the 119 GHz transition connecting to the ground state of O 2, using the Odin satellite. Equipped with a sensitive 3 mm receiver (T sys(SSB) = 600 K), Odin has reached unprecedented upper limits on the abundance of O 2, especially in cold dark clouds where the excited state levels involved in the 487 GHz transition are not expected to be significantly populated. Here we report upper limits for a dozen sources. In cold dark clouds we improve upon the published SWAS upper limits by more than an order of magnitude, reaching N(O 2)/N(H 2) ≤ 10 -7 in half of the sources. While standard chemical models are definitively ruled out by these new limits, our results are compatible with several recent studies that derive lower O 2 abundances. Goldsmith et al. (2002) recently reported a SWAS tentative detection of the 487 GHz transition of O 2 in an outflow wing towards ρ Oph A in a combination of 7 beams covering approximately 10′ × 14′. In a brief (1.3 hour integration time) and partial covering of the SWAS region ≈65% if we exclude their central position), we did not detect the corresponding 119 GHz line. Our 3 sigma upper limit on the O 2 column density is 7.3 × 10 15 cm -2. We presently cannot exclude the possibility that the SWAS signal lies mostly outside of the 9′ Odin beam and has escaped our sensitive detector.link_to_subscribed_fulltex