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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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NASA NTRS1987

Molecular clouds in the Carina arm - Large-scale properties of molecular gas and comparison with H I

Results from the first large-scale survey in the CO (J = 1 - 0) line of the Vela-Carina-Centaurus region of the southern Milky Way are reported. The results demonstrate that molecular clouds in the Galaxy are largely confined to the spiral arms and that CO is therefore an extremely good tracer of the large-scale structure of the system. The Carina arm is the dominant feature in the data. Its abrupt tangent at l of roughly 280 deg and characteristic loop in the (l, v) diagram are unmistakable evidence for CO spiral structure. When the emission is integrated over velocity and latitude, the height of the step seen in the tangent direction indicate that the arm-interarm contrast is at least 13:1.

Grabelsky, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Seasonal Variations in Titan's Stratosphere Observed with Cassini/CIRS: Temperature, Trace Molecular Gas and Aerosol Mixing Ratio Profiles

Titan's northern spring equinox occurred in August 2009. General Circulation Models (e.g. Lebonnois et al., 2012) predict strong modifications of the global circulation in this period, with formation of two circulation cells instead of the pole-to-pole cell that occurred during northern winter. This winter single cell, which had its descending branch at the north pole, was at the origin of the enrichment of molecular abundances and high stratopause temperatures observed by Cassini/CIRS at high northern latitudes (e.g. Achterberg et al., 2011, Coustenis et al., 2010, Teanby et al., 2008, Vinatier et al., 2010). The predicted dynamical seasonal variations after the equinox have strong impact on the spatial distributions of trace gas, temperature and aerosol abundances. We will present here an analysis of CIRS limb-geometry datasets acquired in 2010 and 2011 that we used to monitor the seasonal evolution of the vertical profiles of temperature, molecular (C2H2, C2H6, HCN, ..) and aerosol abundances.

Vinatier, S.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Large scale dissociation of molecular gas in the sprial arms of M51

The distribution of the atomic and ionized hydrogen along the inner spiral arms of M51 are compared. As is the case in M83, the location of both these phases of the interstellar medium with respect to the major dust lanes suggests that molecular hydrogen is dissociated on kpc scales in active star-forming regions, and that this dissociation process may strongly affect the observed morphology of atomic hydrogen in spiral arms.

Tilanus, R. P. J.↗
NASA NTRS1990

A comparison of the radial distribution of molecular gas and non-thermal radio continuum in spiral disks

The present study includes 65 spiral galaxies selected from the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory (FCRAO) Extragalactic CO Survey for which the major axis distributions of CO emission and 1.49 GHz radio continuum emission are well determined. The radial distribution of the CO emission has been measured with the FCRAO at positions along the major axis that are spaced by one half power beam width (HPBW) (45 seconds). The radial profile of the 1.49 GHz radio continuum emission was constructed by determining the radio emission at the location of the CO measurements from the 1.49 GHz maps of Condon (1987). Large, greater than a factor of ten, radially decreasing gradients in the star formation efficiency are observed for a small percentage, approx. 10 percent, of the spirals in this sample. The majority of spirals, however, are associated with small gradients in the star formation efficiency that do not systematically increase or decrease with radius. That the star formation efficiency does not systematically decrease with radius tends to argue against a global dynamical mechanism, such as a spiral density wave, for being the dominant mechanism triggering disk star formation for the majority of spirals in this sample. The results tend to support the view that the star formation in spiral disks is dominated by a local process that depends more on the molecular cloud properties than the dynamical structure of a galaxy.

Devereux, Nicholas A.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Structure of dense molecular gas in TMC 1 from observations of three transitions of HC3N

The Taurus dark cloud complex is a collection of many individual clouds scattered across approximately 50 pc. Within one of these, Heiles Cloud 2, is the dense condensation TMC 1. TMC 1 is one of the few sources in which some of the long carbon chain molecules are found. The present investigation is concerned with a mapping of the density structure in a narrow ridge of the TMC 1 structure. It is shown that the HC3N emission from the J = 5 to 4, J = 9 to 8, and J = 12 to 11 transitions is well matched by a narrow ridge of material at a single density of 50,000-100,000 per cu cm. There is evidence that the HC3N fractional abundance is variable along the ridge. Evidence is also found for the presence of subcondensations within this ridge from maps at individual velocities.

Schloerb, F. P.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Large-scale structure of molecular gas in Heiles Cloud 2 - A remarkable rotating ring

The J = 1 - 0 transition of (C-13)O over a 3 sq deg region in Heiles Cloud 2 has been mapped using the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory 14 m telescope. The complete map contains 3600 individual spectra of which 2400 were sampled with 1 arcmin spacing. The map suggests that the structure of Heiles Cloud 2 is dominated by a quasi-equilibrium rotating ring similar to those found in numerical calculations of the gravitational collapse of a rotating cloud. Within this ring, several dense condensations have been identified and partially mapped in C(O-18). These subcondensations, among which is the dense filament TMC-1, probably result from the instability of the ring to fragmentation and have masses on the order of the jeans mass. Thus, they are marginally unstable to further collapse and may be the precursors of fragments that will eventually form stars.

Schloerb, F. P.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Gamma rays from atomic and molecular gas in the large complex of clouds in Orion and Monoceros

A comparison of COS-B gamma-ray observations of the large complex of interstellar clouds in Orion and Monoceros with the Columbia CO and Berkeley H I surveys of this region reveals a good correlation between gamma-ray emission and total gas distribution. The observed gamma-ray emission is explainable in terms of interactions of cosmic rays that are uniformly distributed in this region with the interstellar gas. The correlation is used as the basis of a calibration of the ratio between H2 column density and the integrated CO line intensity; the value of (2.6 + or - 1.2) X 10 to the 20th mol/sq cm K km s thereby obtained is consistent with the value derived from a similar analysis for the inner galaxy.

Bloemen, J. B. G. M.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Kinetic model for the vibrational energy exchange in flowing molecular gas mixtures

The present study is concerned with the development of a computational model for the description of the vibrational energy exchange in flowing gas mixtures, taking into account a given number of energy levels for each vibrational degree of freedom. It is possible to select an arbitrary number of energy levels. The presented model uses values in the range from 10 to approximately 40. The distribution of energy with respect to these levels can differ from the equilibrium distribution. The kinetic model developed can be employed for arbitrary gaseous mixtures with an arbitrary number of vibrational degrees of freedom for each type of gas. The application of the model to CO2-H2ON2-O2-He mixtures is discussed. The obtained relations can be utilized in a study of the suitability of radiation-related transitional processes, involving the CO2 molecule, for laser applications. It is found that the computational results provided by the model agree very well with experimental data obtained for a CO2 laser. Possibilities for the activation of a 16-micron and 14-micron laser are considered.

Offenhaeuser, F.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Millimeter interferometry of the molecular gas in ARP 20

The Owens Valley Millimeter Wave Interferometer has been used to map the 2.6-mm CO emission in the ultraluminous infrared galaxy Arp 220. Approximately 70 percent of the CO emission from the galaxy originates from an unresolved region less than 4 arcsec x 6 arcsec in size (corresponding to 1500 pc diameter) centered on the near-infrared nucleus. The mass of gas within this region is 10 to the 10th solar mass, which is about 30 times greater than that in an equivalent area of the Galaxy. This concentration could result in efficient star formation via cloud-cloud collisions and provide a significant accretion flow onto a compact, central object.

Scoville, N. Z.↗
NASA NTRS1987

The molecular gas associated with HH46 and HH47

The NASA 64-m and CSIRO 64-m antennas at Tidbinbilla and Parkes, respectively, have been used to observe the star-forming region associated with HH46 and HH47 in the Bok globule known as ESO 210-6A or Sa III. The (1,1), (2,2), and (3,3) transitions of ammonia were observed at the position of the infrared point source, which is the star energizing this complex. Ammonia was not detected at other nearby locations in the globule. The ammonia emission is attributed to a circumstellar toroid or disk with a gas temperature of 17 + or - 2 K, a density of 7 + or - 20,000/cu cm, a size of 6000-7500 Au, and a mass of 0.09-0.14 solar masses, assuming an ammonia abundance of 10 to the -7th. Such a low disk mass may imply more than mere confinement as the mechanism for achieving high collimation observed in the outflow from this region.

Kuiper, T. B. H.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Molecular gas within 2 deg of the Galactic center. I - Survey of (C-13)O emission

The emission from the Galactic center at 2.72 mm from (C-13)O has been surveyed, and the results are reported. Data from 488 spectra taken in the region of l between -2.0 deg and +2.0 deg and b between -0.467 deg and +0.467 deg, and with a spectral resolution of 2.7 km/s over the V(LSR) range of -300 km/s to +300 km/s, are presented in eight l-v diagrams and in 123 maps in the plane of the sky. An averaged l-v diagram shows that virtually all of the (C-13)O emission falls within a roughly symmetrical parallelogram in l-v space; the center of symmetry is near l = +0.25 deg, V(LSR) = +30 km/s. A map of the integrated (C-13)O is presented which is very similar to maps of the far-IR continuum in which Sgr A, B2, C, and D are prominent. Maps of the emission at absolute value of V(LSR) above 100 km/s show that most of the high-velocity gas is tilted out of the Galactic plane by 7 deg; the nuclear disk appears to be inclined to the line of sight by about 85 deg.

Heiligman, Gary M.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Molecular gas and star formation in the centers of Virgo spirals

The CO and H alpha flux distributions for a sample of Virgo spirals were mapped out in an attempt to understand the coupling between gas dynamics and star formation in spiral galaxies. A broad range of morphological types were observed (types Sab through Scd) under the hypothesis that the gas dynamics is most influential in determining the overall appearance of a spiral galaxy. Only non-barred spirals were considered so that the well-studied but complicated properties of bars and their role in inducing star formation would not be a factor. All galaxies were chosen from the Virgo cluster to eliminate uncertainties due to distance errors. Since the dynamical seat of a spiral is at its center, it was expected that the dynamics of the central region would influence global properties of the rest of the disk. This could happen through the existence or absence of an inner Lindblad resonance (according to the degree of central concentration of mass) to modulate swing amplification of spiral waves, or the persistence of an oval distortion to initiate an instability which leads to spiral structure.

Canzian, Blaise↗
NASA NTRS1990

High angular resolution mm- and submm-observations of dense molecular gas in M82

Researchers observed CO(7-6), CO(3-2), HCN(3-2) and HCO+(3-2) line emission toward the starburst nucleus of M82 and have obtained an upper limit to H13CN(3-2). These are the first observations of the CO(7-6), HCN(3-2) and HCO+(3-2) lines in any extragalactic source. Researchers took the CO(7-6) spectrum in January 1988 at the Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) with the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics/Univ. of California, Berkeley 800 GHz Heterodyne Receiver. In March 1989 researchers used the Institute for Radio Astronomy in the Millimeter range (IRAM) 30 m telescope to observe the CO(3-2) line with the new MPE 350 GHz Superconductor Insulator Superconductor (SIS) receiver and the HCN(3-2) and HCO+(3-2) lines with the (IRAM) 230 GHz SIS receiver (beam 12" FWHM, Blundell et al. 1988). The observational parameters are summarized.

Wild, W.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Molecular gas in intermediate luminosity IRAS galaxies

Single dish CO (J = 1-0) measurements are reported for 29 galaxies of intermediate IR lumionosity in the IRAS Bright Galaxy sample, at distances in the range 20-40 Mpc. Most of the galaxies were mapped at 3-7 points with a 55 arcsec beam. The total H2 masses, assuming a standard Galactic CO-to-H2 conversion ratio, lie in the range of 500 million to 20 billion solar masses. The mean ratio of L(FIR)/M(H2) for this intermediate luminosity sample is approximately three times that found for Virgo spirals and approximately one-third of that found for a sample of higher-luminosity IRAS Bright Galaxies.

Tinney, C. G.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Molecular gas in luminous infrared galaxies

Radio observations of 60 bright IRAS galaxies with redshifts of 1500-25,000 km/sec are reported. Data obtained in the 1-0 line of CO using the 12-m NRAO radio telescope during 1985-1988 are presented in extensive tables, graphs, and line profiles and analyzed along with similar data on 29 less distant IRAS bright galaxies (Tinney et al., 1990). The galaxies are found to have H2 masses of (1-60) x 10 to the 9th solar mass and a mean ratio of H2 to warm dust of 540 + or - 290, corresponding to a total gas/dust ratio of 900-1100. The discrepancy between this value and that for the Galaxy (about 150) is tentatively attributed to the presence of undetected cold dust or errors in interpreting the IR data. The mechanisms which might be responsible for the high ratios of IR luminosity to H2 mass (2-220 solar luminosity per solar mass) are discussed.

Sanders, D. B.↗