Engineering topics

Boulanger, F.

Publications and source records attributed to Boulanger, F..

33 records · Page 2

NASA NTRS1990

Variations in the abundance of transiently heated particles within nearby molecular clouds

IRAS images of molecular clouds in the Chamaeleon, Taurus, and Ursa Major complexes show that the mid-IR emission from transiently heated particles is distributed very differently from the 100 micron emission from large dust grains. The ratio between 12 and 100 micron emission varies by more than one order of magnitude in each complex from about 5 times to about one-quarter of the average value in the solar neighborhood. Within a complex, color variations are seen on all scales. No significant variations of the I(v)(100 micron)/A(v) ratio are observed between clouds of widely different mid- to far-IR color. It is shown that neither the large amplitude of the color variations nor their morphology can be explained by changes of the excitation by the UV radiation field and it is concluded that the color variations trace variations in the abundance of transiently heated particles. A scenario is proposed which relates the abundance variations to the cycling of interstellar matter between the gas-phase and grain surfaces.

Boulanger, F.↗

NASA NTRS1990

The infrared structure of M33

IRAS spatial observations of M33 are presented and compared to UV optical, and radio wavelength data. At 12, 25, 60, and 100 microns the emission appears as two bright spiral arms superposed on a diffuse disk, with localized sources at the position of the nucleus and the brightest H II region complexes. The global IR properties of M33 are characteristic of quiescent spirals. The 8-30 micron mid-IR global emission is about 20 percent of the far-IR emission, similar to the ratio of these fluxes found for the local ISM. The local IR excess of M33 is about 2-3 times larger than the excess derived for H II regions in the Galaxy. The radial distributions of the IR colors are flat or nearly flat, implying near-constant dust temperatures across the diffuse disk. The integrated F(IR)-to-radio continuum emission of M33 follows the relation seen in other galaxies, but the radial distribution of the two emission components differ. A striking correlation is seen between the IR emission structure and the distribution of H II regions.

Rice, W.↗

NASA NTRS1990

The molecular spiral arms of NGC 6946

High resolution observations of molecules in external galaxies are essential to understanding physical processes leading to the formation of stars. One question is whether there is a spiral structure in the molecular gas, but it was not possible to resolve the spiral arms of external galaxies until the advent of large millimeter-wave telescopes. With the Institute for Radio Astronomy in the Millimeter Range (IRAM) 30 m telescope, researchers are carrying through the mapping of NGC 6946 in the CO-12(1-0) and (2-1) lines. This galaxy is a large, gas-rich Scd spiral with a strong star formation activity. NGC 6946 is well studied at radio and optical wavelengths, so that it is possible to compare the location of the spiral arms tracers: HI ridge, HII regions and molecular clouds. The disk CO emission is very contrasted (no lines for some positions, 1 K in CO(1-0) for some others) and correlated with the optical spiral arms: this clearly shows up in a figure which presents superimposed contours of CO(2-1) integrated emissivity and of H alpha line emission. The agreement is very good, and there is no displacement across the arm between the CO, HI and H alpha ridges of emission. The arms are barely resolved by the 23 inch beam and the molecular contrast averaged over the map is about 4. The CO(2-1) maxima are closer to the position of the HII regions than those of CO(1-0), which could be due to variations of excitation conditions. The CO excitation in the disk of NGC 6946 is low: when all data are convolved to the same resolution of 23 inches the CO(2-1) lines are about 0.45 times fainter than the CO(1-0) ones, while in the nucleus they have roughly the same intensity. This suggests that in the disk of NGC 6946 most of the CO emission comes from cold optically thick gas located in cloud envelopes rather than from cloud cores. The molecular and atomic component in the observed regions of NGC 6946 seems to be organized in large gaseous complexes.

Casoli, F.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Small scale variations of abundances of transiently heated grains in molecular clouds

IRAS images of a variety of fragments in nearby molecular clouds show that the energy distribution of their IR emission varies widely from cloud to cloud and from place to place within a given cloud. These variations at small scale are all the more unexpected since the colors of the IR emission of cold material differ very little at large scale: the colors of the cirrus emission above the 3kpc molecular ring are the same as those of the cirrus emission in the solar neighborhood. To quantitatively study these variations, 12, 60, and 100 microns brightnesses were obtained of small areas centered at different positions within the set of clouds and complexes. The range of observed 12/100 micron colors is given for each cloud. Variations by an order of magnitude are found in most clouds. Variations by a factor of 2 to 3 are observed within a cloud on scales as small as 0.5pc, the resolution of this study. It is concluded that large variations of the abundances of small particles with respect to those of the large grains responsible for the 100 micron emission are required to explain the observed color variations and that these abundances have to vary by large factors; an order of magnitude from cloud to cloud.

Boulanger, F.↗

NASA NTRS1988

An all-sky search for molecular cirrus clouds

An all-sky map of IR-excess gas has been produced by subtracting the H I component from the IR brightness. The large IR-excess residuals that are spatially connected are used to define IR-excess clouds. Also, nearby molecular clouds at high Galactic latitude and clouds with local heating sources or a larger dust-to-gas ratio than average are identified. The map and a catalog of 516 significant clouds are presented and statistically analyzed.

Desert, F. X.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Small grains and IRAS colors

The paper studies how infrared colors of dust emission from the interstellar medium vary with the energy density of the radiation field on the basis of IRAS observation of the California Nebula. The data suggest that color variations result from a combinatin of equilibrium emission from large grains, and nonequilibrium emission from small grains, with destruction of the small grains emitting at 12 microns at high energy density; it is estimated that 80 percent of these small particles are destroyed for an energy density in ultraviolet photons larger than 50 times that of the average interstellar radiation field in the solar neighborhood. In a color-color diagram, I(v)(60 microns)/I(v)(100 microns) versus I(v)(12 microns)/I(v)(25 microns), the California Nebula measurements at various distances to the ionizing star Zeta Per follow a sequence similar to that of galaxies. This result shows that the position of a galaxy along this sequence is a measure of the intensity of the radiation field in the regions responsible for the infrared emission.

Boulanger, F.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Diffuse infrared emission of the galaxy: Large scale properties

A quantitative analysis of Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) data in the galactic plane shows that: about 66% of the power radiated in the 100 micron band comes from the diffuse medium, the other 33% coming from well identified luminous sources. The diffuse emission has almost constant colors throughout the Galaxy, similar to the local cirrus colors. The sources have a much lower 12 micron/25 micron and a much high 60 micron/100 micron emission ratio than the diffuse component, giving a very striking anticorrelation in the color-color diagrams. The separation between one narrow and a second broader component shows that the molecular component does not provide much more than one half of the diffuse emission in the molecular ring: this implies a 4 pi nuI(nu) emissivity at 100 microns for the atomic component of about 2.4 x 10 to the minus 30th watts per H atom, 10 times higher than the emissivity of the molecular component at the same galactocentric radius. The atomic component emissivity measures the interstellar radiation field density. The temperature distribution of the 2 components is discussed comparing IRAS data with measures of the 900 micron emission of the galactic plane, which appears to be dominated by cold dust in the narrow component.

Puget, J. L.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Diffuse infrared emission of the galaxy: Large scale properties

The Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) survey is used to study large scale properties and the origin of the diffuse emission of the Galaxy. A careful subtraction of the zodiacal light enables longitude profiles of the galactic emission at 12, 25, 60, and 100 microns to be presented.

Perault, M.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Global properties of the nearby spiral M101

M101 (NGC 5457) is a classic Sc I spiral galaxy located suffiently nearby, 6.8 Mpc, that its structure can be studied even with the coarse angular resolution of the Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS). The global infrared properties of M101 are addressed including the radial dependence of its infrared emission.

Beichman, C.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Deuterated C3H2 as a clue to deuterium chemistry

The deuterated cyclopropenylidene ring molecule, C3HD, has been detected toward several sources in four rotational lines, at 19, 79, 104, and 107 GHz. The relative integrated intensities of the 2-sub-12 - 1-sub-01 lines of C3HD and C3H2 are found in the ratio 1:5, indicating a high deuterium fractionation ratio for cyclopropenylidene. The detection of the C-13 isotope of C3H2 at the same position allows a determination of the optical thickness (about 3) of the line. The detection of such a large enhancement in the deuterated form of C3H2 very strongly suggests that a molecular ion is the chemical precursor of the molecules. Consideration of the amount of the enhancement relative to that in other molecules suggests that the precursor ion is C3H3+.

Gerin, M.↗

NASA NTRS1986

A search for dust in high-velocity clouds

IRAS observations are used to look for infrared emission from dust in high-velocity clouds (HVCs). None of these clouds is detected. The upper limit that can be set on the IR emission per hydrogen atom from this type of H I cloud is significantly smaller than the measured emission from low-velocity H I clouds observed elsewhere. This result implies either that the dust in the HVCs studied is cooler than that in low-velocity hydrogen clouds or that the dust abundance is at least three times lower. The corresponding explanations are that either the HVCs are far above the galactic plane (a lower limit of 10 kpc is found if the dust abundance is normal) or that the dust inside the clouds has been depleted.

Wakker, B. P.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Grain temperature fluctuations - A key to infrared spectra

Interstellar grains of radius less than 003 microns are known to have a fluctuating temperature because their internal energy is comparable to the energy of UV and visible photons. The exact resultant grain temperature distribution is given by studying the multiphoton absorption processes. This distribution satisfies an homogeneous integral equation which can be solved by an iteration technique. These small grains generally emit at shorter wavelengths than big cold grians and therefore could help in the interpretation of the infrared spectra (1-1000 microns) of various astrophysical objects.

Desert, F. X.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Nature of very small grains - PAH molecules or silicates?

The predictions of the model of Puget et al. (1985) for the emission from Very Small Grains (VSGs) including both graphitic and silicate components are compared with published 8-13-micron observations of astronomical sources. The VSGs are found to be mainly graphitic and an upper limit is placed on the relative mass of silicates based on lack of the 9.7-micron silicate emission feature on M 82 and NGC 2023. This dissymetry in the composition of VSGs supports the suggestion that they are formed in grain-grain collisions where the behaviors of graphite and silicate grains are expected to be quite different.

Desert, F. X.↗

NASA NTRS1986

MID-IR emission of the interstellar medium

IRAS observations of the local interstellar medium and the galactic plane are presented; for all components, the radiation observed at 12 microns represents a large fraction of the far-IR emission. The 12/25 microns color of the diffuse IR emission of the galactic plane increases from the inner to the outer parts while the 60/100 microns ratio decreases, a color-color anticorrelation also observed for giant H II regions. The implications of these observations are discussed.

Boulanger, F.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Detection of interstellar CCD

The first detection of interstellar CCD has been obtained in the N = 3-2, J = 7/2-5/2 line at 216.3732 GHz towards the Kleinman-Low nebula. An abundance ratio CCD/CCH of 0.045 is found, indicating in this molecule a deuterium enhancement similar to that found for HNC, but an order of magnitude higher than for HCN. Negative results towards DR 21(OH), NGC 2264, L 134N, TM Cl, Rho OphB2, and IRC 10216 rule out a stronger D enhancement for CCD than for other deuterated molecules in these sources. Predictions of currently developed ion-molecule reaction schemes are consistent with the CCD line detected and the negative results.

Combes, F.↗