arXiv subjects

Marta Obolentseva

Publications and source records attributed to Marta Obolentseva.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Map of the Interstellar Continuum FUV Field within 800 Parsecs

The far-ultraviolet (FUV) field, consisting of photons with energies between 6 and 13.6 electron volts, plays an important role in the chemical and thermodynamical evolution of the interstellar medium. FUV continuum radiation is produced by bright stars in the galaxy and absorbed by interstellar dust. We used newly available maps of the dust distribution, in conjunction with catalogs of stellar positions and spectra, to create a map of the stellar FUV field within 800 parsecs of the Earth. The map shows a total FUV intensity in the solar neighborhood in line with existing measurements (0.7 times the Draine field), but substantial point-to-point fluctuations exist. Near the Galactic midplane, the FUV intensity decreases with increasing gas density up to a density of approximately 10 hydrogen atoms per cm$^3$, due to absorption of light by dust. Between 10 and 50 hydrogen atoms per cm$^3$ the UV field increases again, due to a positive correlation between high density gas and young hot stars. We find that the spectrum is generally harder where the UV field is higher, and softer in regions where dust extinction is more important. The resulting map, as well as our catalog of derived stellar properties, are both available for download for those wishing to study a nearby region of the ISM.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

The Snake Filament: A study of polarization and kinematics

The role of magnetic fields in the formation of dense filamentary structures in molecular clouds is critical for understanding the star formation process. The Snake filament in or close to the Pipe Nebula s neighboring, a prominent example of such structures, offers an ideal environment to study the interplay between magnetic fields and gas dynamics in the early stages of star formation. This study aims to investigate how magnetic fields influence the structure and dynamics of the Snake filament, using both polarization data and molecular line observations. Our goal is to understand the role of magnetic fields in shaping the filamentary structure and explore the kinematics within the filament. We conducted polarization observations in the optical and near-infrared bands using the 1.6 m and 60 cm telescopes at the Observatorio do Pico dos Dias/Laboratorio Nacional de Astrof\isica (OPD/LNA). Molecular line observations of the C18O and 13CO lines were obtained using the IRAM 30m telescope. We analyzed the data to characterize polarization and gas properties within the filament, with a focus on understanding the magnetic field orientation and its relationship with the filament s structure. Our findings reveal that the polarization vectors align with the filament s spine, indicating a magnetic field structure that is predominantly parallel to the filament at lower-density regions. A velocity gradient along the filament is observed in both C18O and 13CO lines, with C18O tracing the denser regions of the gas. The polarization efficiency decreases with increasing visual extinction, consistent with reduced grain alignment in higher-density regions. The filament s mass-to-length ratio is below the critical value required for gravitational collapse, indicating stability.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

The densities in diffuse and translucent molecular clouds: estimates from observations of C$_2$ and from 3-dimensional extinction maps

Newly-computed collisional rate coefficients for the excitation of C$_2$ in collisions with H$_2$, presented recently by Najar and Kalugina (2020), are significantly larger than the values adopted previously in models for the excitation of the C$_2$ molecule, a widely used probe of the interstellar gas density. With these new rate coefficients, we have modeled the C$_2$ rotational distributions inferred from visible and ultraviolet absorption observations of electronic transitions of C$_2$ towards a collection of 46 nearby background sources. The inferred gas densities in the foreground interstellar clouds responsible for the observed C$_2$ absorption are a factor 4 to 7 smaller than those inferred previously, a direct reflection of the larger collisional rate coefficients computed by Najar and Kalugina (2020). These lower density estimates are generally in good agreement with the peak densities inferred from 3D extinction maps for the relevant sightlines. In cases where H$_3^+$ absorption has also been observed and used to estimate the cosmic-ray ionization rate (CRIR), our estimates of the latter will also decrease accordingly because the H$_3^+$ abundance is a function of the ratio of the CRIR to the gas density.

astro-ph.GA↗