FIRST SCIENCE OBSERVATIONS WITH SOFIA/FORCAST: 6-37 {mu}m IMAGING OF THE CENTRAL ORION NEBULA

Journal Article · Fri Apr 20 00:00:00 EDT 2012 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/749/2/L22· OSTI ID:22047906

Shuping, R Y ^[1]; Morris, Mark R ^[2]; Herter, Terry L; Adams, Joseph D; Gull, G E; Schoenwald, J; Henderson, C P ^[3]; Becklin, E E; De Buizer, James M; Vacca, William D; Zinnecker, Hans ^[4]

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1. Space Science Institute, 4750 Walnut St., Suite 205, Boulder, CO 80301 (United States)
2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1547 (United States)
3. Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Cornell University, 208 Space Sciences Building, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States)
4. SOFIA-USRA, NASA Ames Research Center, MS N211-3, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (United States)

We present new mid-infrared images of the central region of the Orion Nebula using the newly commissioned Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy airborne telescope and its 5-40 {mu}m camera FORCAST. The 37.1 {mu}m images represent the highest resolution observations ({approx}<4'') ever obtained of this region at these wavelengths. After BN/KL (which is described in a separate paper in this issue), the dominant source at all wavelengths except 37.1 {mu}m is the Ney-Allen Nebula, a crescent-shaped extended source associated with {theta}{sup 1} D Ori. The morphology of the Ney-Allen nebula in our images is consistent with the interpretation that it is ambient dust swept up by the stellar wind from {theta}{sup 1} D Ori, as suggested by Smith et al. in 2005. Our observations also reveal emission from two 'proplyds' (proto-planetary disks), and a few embedded young stellar objects (YSOs; IRc 9, and OMC1-S IRS1, 2, and 10). The spectral energy distribution for IRc 9 is presented and fitted with standard YSO models from Robitaille et al. in 2007 to constrain the total luminosity, disk size, and envelope size. The diffuse, nebular emission we observe at all FORCAST wavelengths is most likely from the background photodissociation region (PDR) and shows structure that coincides roughly with H{alpha} and [N II] emission. We conclude that the spatial variations in the diffuse emission are likely due to undulations in the surface of the background PDR.

• OSTI ID: 22047906
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 749, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
CAMERAS
DISSOCIATION
ENERGY SPECTRA
IMAGES
LUMINOSITY
MORPHOLOGY
NEBULAE
PHOTOLYSIS
PHOTON EMISSION
RESOLUTION
STARS
STELLAR WINDS
TELESCOPES
WAVELENGTHS