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Title: FAR-ULTRAVIOLET OBSERVATION OF THE AQUILA RIFT WITH FIMS/SPEAR

Journal Article · · Astrophysical Journal
;  [1]; ; ;  [2];  [3]
  1. Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 305-701 (Korea, Republic of)
  2. Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, Daejeon 305-348 (Korea, Republic of)
  3. Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)

We present the results of far ultraviolet (FUV) observations of the broad region around the Aquila Rift including the Galactic plane. As compared with various wavelength data sets, dust scattering is found to be the major origin of the diffuse FUV continuum in this region. The FUV intensity clearly correlates with the dust extinction level for E(B - V) < 0.2, while this correlation disappears for E(B - V) > 0.2 due to heavy dust extinction combined with the effect of nonuniform interstellar radiation fields. The FUV intensity also correlates well with H{alpha} intensity, implying that at least some fraction of the observed H{alpha} emission could be the dust-scattered light of H{alpha} photons originating elsewhere in the Galaxy. Most of the Aquila Rift region is seen devoid of diffuse FUV continuum due to heavy extinction while strong emission is observed in the surrounding regions. Molecular hydrogen fluorescent emission lines are clearly seen in the spectrum of 'Aquila-Serpens', while 'Aquila-East' does not show any apparent line features. CO emission intensity is also found to be higher in the 'Aquila-Serpens' region than in the 'Aquila-East' region. In this regard, we note that regions of star formation have been found in 'Aquila-Serpens' but not in 'Aquila-East'.

OSTI ID:
22039335
Journal Information:
Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 754, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English