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Article
Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite Observations of Extended Water Emission in Orion
The Astrophysical Journal Letters (2000)
  • R. L. Snell
  • J. E. Howe
  • M. L. N. Ashby
  • E. A. Bergin
  • G. Chin
  • Neal A. Erickson, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
  • P. F. Goldsmith
  • M. Harwit
  • S. C. Kleiner
  • D. G. Koch
  • D. A. Neufeld
  • B. M. Patten
  • R. Plume
  • R. Schieder
  • J. R. Stauffer
  • V. Tolls
  • Z. Wang
  • G. Winnewisser
  • Y. F. Zhang
  • G. J. Melnick
Abstract

We have used the Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite to map the ground-state 1_{10}-1_{01} transition of ortho-water at 557 GHz in the Orion molecular cloud. Water emission was detected in Orion over an angular extent of about 20 arcmin, or nearly 3 pc. The water emission is relatively weak, with line widths (3-6 km s^{-1}) and V_{LSR} velocities (9-11 km s^{-1}) consistent with an origin in the cold gas of the molecular ridge. We find that the ortho-water abundance relative to H_2 in the extended gas in Orion varies between 1 and 8x10^{-8}, with an average of 3x10^{-8}. The absence of detectable narrow-line ortho-H_2^{18}O emission is used to set a 3-sigma upper limit on the relative ortho-water abundance of 7x10^{-8}.

Keywords
  • ISM: abundances,
  • ISM: clouds,
  • ISM: individual (Orion),
  • ISM: molecules,
  • radio lines: ISM
Publication Date
October 19, 2000
Publisher Statement
This is the pre-published version harvested from arXiv. The published version is located at http://iopscience.iop.org/1538-4357/539/2/L93
Citation Information
R. L. Snell, J. E. Howe, M. L. N. Ashby, E. A. Bergin, et al.. "Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite Observations of Extended Water Emission in Orion" The Astrophysical Journal Letters Vol. 539 Iss. 2 (2000)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/neal_erickson/13/