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A search for weak OH emission at 1665 and 1667 MHz was carried out in three high-latitude directions containing no compact clouds of H I or dust. No OH emission was detected down to low limits, and the comparison of our upper limits with the known H I and dust-column densities reinforces the suggestion that OH tends to be concentrated to regions of high dust or gas density.
This paper presents the observational results of a high spatial-resolution mapping and photometric study in the wavelength range from 1.65 to 20 microns of four H II regions and seven OH sources. Infrared emission indicative of the presence of heated dust was found from the compact H II condensations in W51, DR21, and NGC7538. Infrared emission was also found from the positions of maser sources in NGC 7538, W75(N) W75(S) and Sharpless 269, but not from that in W51. An extended infrared source was found coincident with the peculiar OH source OH 0739-14.
In order to define the origins of experimentally observed predissociations within the A2 sigma/+/ state of OH, overlaps have been computed of the bound level vibrational wavefunctions in the A2 sigma/+/ state with the vibrational continua of states of OH arising from the ground electronic state separated atoms. The dependence of the transition moment upon internuclear distance is derived and compared with previous results. Implications of this analysis in terms of the two body formation of OH are indicated.
By varying the pulsewidth of the output from two dye lasers, it is verified experimentally that the steady-state interference level of OH due to laser-induced dissociation of ozone decreases linearly with decreasing pulsewidth of the exciting radiation. At low pressures, further reduction in the interference level due to the transient nature of OH formation processes was also observed. These results should greatly facilitate measurements of OH concentrations in the atmosphere.
A discharge-flow system with resonance fluorescence detection of OH is used to study the reactions of CFCl3, CF2Cl2, and N2O with OH at temperatures up to 480 K. Little, if any reaction was found, with upper limits of 5, 6, and 4 x 10 to the -16th cu cm/s reported at 480 K for the three rate constants. A very simple model is used to calculate removal times exceeding 10,000 years for reaction with tropospheric OH.
Observations of hydroxyl (OH) emission from meteors were made during the late summers of 1975 and 1976 from altitudes of 10,600 and 14,200 feet (3.2 km and 4.45 km). The observations were made with OH meteor photometers developed at the NASA-Langley Research Center. Two of the meteors were Perseids, and one was an Alpha Capricornid. The Perseid meteors produced a peak irradiance at a distance of 100 km from the meteors of about 0.00005 erg/sq cm per sec in the OH emission region. The zero-magnitude Alpha Capricornid meteor produced a spectral irradiance at 3100 A of 23 hundred-millionths erg/sq cm per A per sec. This may be indicative of significant amounts of H2O in these meteors.
Results of a search for IR radiation at 10 microns from a sample of OH maser sources are reported. An IR source is discovered near each of six OH masers which emit mainly at 1612 MHz in two distinct velocity ranges. It is shown that all the sources have varied with time, that two sources have exhibited significant variations in color temperature, and that the energy distributions of the six objects over the spectral range from 2 to 20 microns fall into two categories. Absorption in the 2.3-micron band of CO is detected in two sources, and four are found to display substantial silicate absorption features. The energy distributions of the sources indicate that pumping by 35-micron photons is feasible, but 2.8-micron pumping is very unlikely; the distributions are best explained as emission from very thick dust shells at temperatures of about 500 K. The data are taken as supporting the hypothesis that every double-peaked OH maser emitting principally at 1612 MHz is associated with an IR object. The nature of the objects inside the dust shells and their evolutionary state are briefly discussed.
Highly purified samples of the two chlorocarbons, trichloroethane and methyl chloroform, were reacted with OH over the temperature range of 278 to 460 K in a discharge-flow system with resonance flourescence detection of OH. Attention is given to the data obtained at various temperature levels and to the graph of Arrhenius' diagram. It is determined that the methyl chloroform reaction was slower and its temperature dependence somewhat steeper than the earlier measurements had indicated, probably due to the presence of faster reacting olefinic impurities in prior studies. Implications for stratospheric ozone reductions by C10-sub-x catalysis and for tropospheric OH-budget are briefly discussed.
Described in detail is a laser induced fluorescence system which has been successfully interfaced with two aircraft sampling platforms (i.e., Sabreliner jet and an L-188C Electra). This system, which has been under development for four years, presently consists of the following major components: (1) a Nd-Yag laser driven oscillator-amplifier dye laser; (2) a sampling manifold with associated fluorescence detection optics; (3) an OH calibration chamber; (4) a laser beam steering assembly; and (5) sampling electronics and data processing hardware. During the last three years, this system has been flown some 50,000 air miles making tropospheric OH radical measurements over the latitude range of 70 N to 57 S. OH concentrations measured during these flights have ranged from 30 parts-per-quadrillion (3.7 x 10 to the 5th molecules/sq cm) at altitudes of 6 km to 0.8 parts-per-trillion (2.0 x 10 to the 7th molecules/sq cm) at 0.5 km. Computations have been completed which indicate that the existing aircraft system with modest modifications should also be capable of detecting natural tropospheric levels of NO, SO2, CH2O, NO2, HNO2, NO3, H2O2 and CS2 by using both conventional laser-induced fluorescence methodology and multiphoton techniques.
Strong absorption lines of OH have been detected at wavelengths of 119.23 and 119.44 microns in the direction of Sgr B2. The lines arise from the 2Pi3/2, J = 5/2-3/2 transitions and imply a column density of N(OH) not less than 2.7 x 10 to the 15th/sq cm. The LSR Doppler velocity of the absorption features is close to zero; this suggests that material is being seen from both the +62 km/s and -90 km/s clouds at radio wavelengths. In addition, the detection of the same two lines in emission from the shocked region of the Orion Nebula has been made possible. The indicated intensity of these lines is 1.6 x 10 to the -17th W/sq cm, which implies a column density of shocked OH of about 3.6 x 10 to the 15th/sq cm.
The rate constant of the title reaction was measured in a discharge-flow reactor by addition of excess HO2 from a movable double injector to a gas stream containing small concentrations of OH. The concentration of OH was measured by laser-induced fluorescence, HO2 by conversion to OH, and H and O by vacuum-UV resonance fluorescence. Five sets of experiments, each with different excess concentration of HO2, gave an average rate constant of (7.5 + or - 1.2) x 10 to the -11th cu cm/s where the error limits (single sigma) include uncertainties of all experimental parameters. This result is compared with other findings and is discussed in terms of its importance in stratospheric chemistry and in rate theory.
The NRAO-Green Bank 43-m telescope and 18-cm receiver have detected OH maser main-line emission at 1665 MHz, in the direction of the two late-type supergiants TV Gem and BI Cyg. The detection of the two new OH maser sources is noteworthy in view of the small number of late-type supergiants known to be molecular radio sources, or associated in close proximity with OH emission clouds. The IR, UV and radio properties of the two stars are discussed.
The present investigation is concerned with the calculation of the fluorescence efficiency of OH over a wide range of heliocentric radial velocities. Three vibrational states in each of the two lowest electronic states are included in these calculations, producing a total of nine vibrational bands in the ultraviolet. The attempt is made to reproduce observed, ultraviolet, cometary spectra of OH by utilizing the Swings fluorescence mechanism. The inclusion of four rotational states within each of the three vibrational states and a detailed solar atlas make it possible to match observations very well, although there remain some discrepancies. This ability to reproduce observations provides confidence that the more general results obtained for the fluorescence efficiency as a function of heliocentric radial velocity can be used in interpreting both previous and future observations of OH in comets.
An absorption technique is described which utilizes a stabilized frequency-doubled tunable dye laser and a long-path White cell with high mirror reflectivities both in the red and UV. In laboratory conditions it has been possible to routinely obtain a detection sensitivity of 3 parts in 1,000,000 over absorption paths less than 1 m in length and a detection sensitivity of approximately 6 parts in 100,000 over an absorption path of the order of 1 km. The latter number corresponds to 3,000,000 OH molecules/cu cm, and therefore the technique should be particularly useful for calibration the fluorescence instrument for OH measurements. However, the presence of atmospheric fluctuations coupled with intensity variation accompanying frequency scanning appears to degrade the detection sensitivity in outdoor ambient conditions, thus making it unlikely that this technique can be employed for direct OH monitoring.
The structure of OH shells formed from the photodestruction of H2O by ambient UV photons in the thick, expanding envelopes around cool evolved stars is investigated. The properties of the shells are governed mainly by the envelope shielding which in turn is primarily controlled by the mass-loss rate M. The peak OH densities and column densities through the shells are, respectively, slowly decreasing and increasing functions of M. The characteristic radii of the shells also depend on M, increasing from about 4(15) cm for M = 1(-6) solar mass/yr to about 1(17) cm for M = 1(-4) solar mass/yr; this dependence is well matched by recent observational data, and lends support to the OH photoproduction mechanism.
The absorption spectrum for OH was obtained in the 115-183 nm region. The OH radicals were produced by a pulse discharge of trace H2O in few torr of Ar. Absorption cross sections were obtained by calibration with absorption of the OH (X 2 Pi to A 2 Sigma +) transition. The features in the absorption spectrum are correlated with the excited states 1 2 Sigma -, D 2 Sigma -, 1 2 Delta, B 2 Sigma + and possibly others calculated by van Dishoeck, Langhoff, and Dalgarno. The measured cross sections are comparable with the calculated values.
Calculations of the radiative lifetimes of cometary OH are presented as a function of the radial velocity of the comet and of the velocity distributions of the hydrogen and oxygen atoms produced by photodissociation of OH. The contribution of the photodissociation of OH to the emission of the red and green lines of atomic oxygen is assessed. An estimate is made of the lifetime of OD and of the velocity distribution of the deuterium atoms.
Observations of far infrared rotational emission lines which arise in the shocked gas associated with Orion-Kl are presented, including detections of the CO J = 34 yields 33, J = 31 yields 30, J = 26 yields 25, and OH sup 2 PI sub (3/2) J sup P = 7/2(-) yields 5/2(+) emission lines, as well as improved measurements of the CO J = 22 yields 21 and OH sup 2 PI sub (3/2) J = 5/2 yields 3/2 lines. These lines are observed to have velocity widths of Del V approx. 20 to 30 km/sec, somewhat less than either the 2 micro H sub 2 lines or the high velocity plateau component of the millimeter wave CO lines seen in this object. An H sub 2 column density of approx. 3 x 10 to the 21st power, a total mass of approx. 1 solar mass and characteristic temperature and density T approx. 750 K and approx. 2 x 10 to the 6th power per cu cm can be derived from the CO intensities. The density is too low by at least an order of magnitude for the observed infrared H sub 2 and far infrared CO emission to be accounted for by a purely hydrodynamic shock, and support is lent to hydromagnetic shock models. From the present measurements, the relative abundance of CO is estimated to be CO H sub 2 = 1.2 x .0001, corresponding to 20% of the cosmic abundance of C existing in the form of CO. The average relative abundance of OH in the shocked gas is O/H sub 2 or = 5 x 10 to the -7th power. An upper limit to the intensity of the HD J = 1 yields 0 line is used to derive an upper limit of tau or = 3 for the D/H relative abundance in the Orion cloud core.