A Survey of 557 GHz Water Vapor Emission in the NGC 1333 Molecular Cloud

Abstract

Using NASA's Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS) we have examined the production of water in quiescent and shocked molecular gas through a survey of the 556.936 GHz transition of ortho-H2O in the NGC 1333 molecular core. These observations reveal broad emission lines associated with the IRAS~2, IRAS~4, IRAS~7, and HH7-11 outflows. Towards 3 positions we detect narrow (~2-3 km/s) emission lines clearly associated with the ambient gas. The SWAS observations, with a resolution of 4', are supplemented with observations from the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) and by an unbiased survey of a 17' x 15' area, with 50" resolution, in the low-J transitions of CO, 13CO, C18O, N2H+, CH3OH, and SiO. Using these combined data sets, with consistent assumptions, we find beam-averaged o-H2O abundances of > 10^{-6} relative to H2O for all four outflows. A comparison of SWAS and ISO water data is consistent with non-dissociative shock models, provided the majority of the 557 GHz emission arises from cool post-shock material with enhanced abundances. In the ambient gas the o-H2O abundance is found to lie between 0.1-1 x 10^{-7} relative to H2 and is enhanced when compared to cold pre-stellar molecular cores. A comparison of the water emission with tracers of dense condensations and shock chemistry finds no clear correlation. However, the water emission appears to be associated with the presence of luminous external heating sources which power the reflection nebula and the photodissociation (PDR) region. Simple PDR models are capable of reproducing the water and high-J 13CO emission, suggesting that a PDR may account for the excitation of water in low density undepleted gas as suggested by Spaans & van Dishoeck (2001).