arXiv subjects

H. A. Smith

Publications and source records attributed to H. A. Smith.

111 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

arXiv1999

ISO Far-IR Spectroscopy of IR-Bright Galaxies and ULIRGs

Based on far-infrared spectroscopy of a small sample of nearby infrared-bright and ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) with the ISO Long Wavelength Spectrometer, we find a dramatic progression in ionic/atomic fine-structure emission line and molecular/atomic absorption line characteristics in these galaxies extending from strong [O III]52,88 and [N III]57 micron line emission to detection of only faint [C II]158 micron line emission from gas in photodissociation regions in the ULIRGs. The molecular absorption spectra show varying excitation as well, extending from galaxies in which the molecular population mainly occupies the ground state to galaxies in which there is significant population in higher levels. In the case of the prototypical ULIRG, the merger galaxy Arp 220, the spectrum is dominated by absorption lines of OH, H2O, CH, and [O I]. Low [O III]88 micron line flux relative to the integrated far-infrared flux correlates with low excitation and does not appear to be due to far-infrared extinction or to density effects. A progression toward soft radiation fields or very dusty HII regions may explain these effects.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1999

Shock excited far-infrared molecular emission around T Tau

The first complete far-infrared spectrum of T Tau has been obtained with the LWS spectrometer on-board the Infrared Space Observatory, which detected strong emission from high-J (J=14-25) CO, para- and ortho-H2O and OH transitions over the wavelength range from 40 to 190 micron. Most of the observed molecular emission can be explained by a single emission region at T~300-900 K and n(H_2)~10^(5-6) cm^(-3),with a diameter of about 2-3 arcsec. This corresponds to a very compact region of 300-400 AU at the distance of 140 pc. An higher temperature component seems to be needed to explain the highest excitation CO and water lines. We derive a water abundance of 1-7x10^(-5) and an OH abundance of ~3x10^(-5) with respect to molecular hydrogen, implying water and OH enhancements by more than a factor of 10 with respect to the expected ambient gas abundance. The observed cooling in the various species amounts to 0.04 L(sun),comparable to the mechanical luminosity of the outflow, indicating that the stellar winds could be responsible of the line excitation through shocks. In order to explain the observed molecular cooling in T Tau in terms of C-type shock models, we hypothesise that the strong far-ultraviolet radiation field photodissociates water in favour of OH. This would explain the large overabundance of OH observed. The estimated relatively high density and compactness of the observed emission suggest that it originates from the shocks taking place at the base of the molecular outflow emission, in the region where the action of the stellar winds from the two stars of the binary system is important.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1998

ISO LWS Spectroscopy of M82: A Unified Evolutionary Model

We present the first complete far-infrared spectrum (43 to 197 um) of M82, the brightest infrared galaxy in the sky, taken with the Long Wavelength Spectrometer of the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). We detected seven fine structure emission lines, [OI] 63 and 145 um, [OIII] 52 and 88 um, [NII] 122 um, [NIII] 57 um and [CII] 158 um, and fit their ratios to a combination starburst and photo-dissociation region (PDR) model. The best fit is obtained with HII regions with n = 250 cm^{-3} and an ionization parameter of 10^{-3.5} and PDRs with n = 10^{3.3} cm^{-3} and a far-ultraviolet flux of G_o = 10^{2.8}. We applied both continuous and instantaneous starburst models, with our best fit being a 3-5 Myr old instantaneous burst model with a 100 M_o cut-off. We also detected the ground state rotational line of OH in absorption at 119.4 um. No excited level OH transitions are apparent, indicating that the OH is almost entirely in its ground state with a column density ~ 4x10^{14} cm^{-2}. The spectral energy distribution over the LWS wavelength range is well fit with a 48 K dust temperature and an optical depth, tau_{Dust} proportional to lambda^{-1}.

astro-ph↗