Observations of the 157. 7 micron (C II) emission from the galactic H II regions W3 and W51

Journal Article · Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1986 · Astrophys. J.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/164113· OSTI ID:5497079

Melnick, G; Stacey, G J; Viscuso, P J; Fuler, C E

The 157.7 micron ground-state fine-structure transition of singly ionized carbon was detected from three positions, each in galactic H II region W3 and W51. These findings show that this emission goes beyond the H II regions and the carbon recombination region in each source. In addition these observations establish a lower limit to the luminosity in the 157.7 micron (C II) line of 360 solar luminosity from W3 and 41 solar luminosity from W51. Mechanisms for 157.7 micron-line excitation are discussed, and it is noted that a substantial part of the observed emission originates in the thin carbon recombination line-emitting region which borders on the H II regions and the warm atomic and molecular gas at the surface of neighboring molecular clouds. It is proposed that excitation by electrons present in the diffuse gas surrounding W51 contributes to the extended 157.7 micron (C II) line emission from this region. It was found that the (C II)FIR continuum ratios for W3 and W51 are in agreement with those of other galactic H II regions. 69 references

• Research Organization: Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA; Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY
• OSTI ID: 5497079
• Journal Information: Astrophys. J.; (United States), Vol. 303
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
H2 REGIONS
EMISSION SPECTRA
CARBON
FAR INFRARED RADIATION
INFRARED SPECTRA
IONIZED GASES
LUMINOSITY
MOLECULES
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTS
FLUIDS
GASES
INFRARED RADIATION
NONMETALS
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
RADIATIONS
SPECTRA
640103* - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Quasi-Stellar
Radio
& X-Ray Sources- (-1987)