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Article
Detection of Extremely Broad Water Emission from the Molecular Cloud Interacting Supernova Remnant G349.7+0.2*
The Astrophysical Journal
  • John Hewitt, University of North Florida
  • J. Rho
  • A. Boogert
  • M. Kaufman
  • A. Gusdorf
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-7-2015
Abstract

We performed Herschel HIFI, PACS, and SPIRE observations toward the molecular cloud interacting supernova remnant G349.7+0.2. An extremely broad emission line was detected at 557 GHz from the ground state transition 110-101 of ortho-water. This water line can be separated into three velocity components with widths of 144, 27, and 4 km s−1. The 144 km s−1 component is the broadest water line detected to date in the literature. This extremely broad line width shows the importance of probing shock dynamics. PACS observations revealed three additional ortho-water lines, as well as numerous high-J carbon monoxide (CO) lines. No para-water lines were detected. The extremely broad water line is indicative of a high velocity shock, which is supported by the observed CO rotational diagram that was reproduced with a J-shock model with a density of 104 cm−3 and a shock velocity of 80 km s−1. Two far-infrared fine-structure lines, [O i] at 145 μm and [C ii] line at 157 μm, are also consistent with the high velocity J-shock model. The extremely broad water line could be simply from short-lived molecules that have not been destroyed in high velocity J-shocks; however, it may be from more complicated geometry such as high-velocity water bullets or a shell expanding in high velocity. We estimate the CO and H2O densities, column densities, and temperatures by comparison with RADEX and detailed shock models.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1088/0004-637X/812/1/44
Citation Information
Rho, J., Hewitt, J. W., Boogert, A., Kaufman, M., & Gusdorf, A. (2015). DETECTION OF EXTREMELY BROAD WATER EMISSION FROM THE MOLECULAR CLOUD INTERACTING SUPERNOVA REMNANT G349.7+0.2. The Astrophysical Journal, 812(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/812/1/44