High Resolution Far-Infrared Studies

Abstract

We have been obtained high-resolution data (20 ft at 50 microns and 30 ft at 100 microns) on the KAO using Paul Harvey's 2 x 10 element photometer in both scanning and nodding modes. The practical flux limit for scanning is about 100 Jy. For fainter sources, a nodding (beam-switching) mode, which spend more time on the source, is used. This technique has been used successfully on objects as faint as 10 Jy; the 1 sigma noise for a 1 hour integration is about 1 Jy. Although not as sensitive as space-based instruments, the higher spatial resolution afforded by the KAO is essential in studying the far-infrared emission associated with young stars; in several cases we have been able to distinguish emission from multiple sources which were blended in the IRAS beam. In addition, comparison of fluxes in the KAO beam to those in the much larger IRAS beam provides information on the extended low-level emission arising from the surrounding region. We have developed a number of codes for producing model intensity distributions.