arXiv subjects

W. J. Henney

Publications and source records attributed to W. J. Henney.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2012

Ionized gas diagnostics from protoplanetary discs in the Orion Nebula and the abundance discrepancy problem

We present results from integral field spectroscopy with PMAS. The observed field contains: five protoplanetary discs (also known as proplyds), the high-velocity jet HH 514 and a bowshock. Spatial distribution maps are obtained for different emission line fluxes, the c(Hβ) coefficient, electron densities and temperatures, ionic abundances of different ions from collisionally excited lines (CELs), C2+ and O2+ abundances from recombination lines (RLs) and the abundance discrepancy factor of O2+, ADF(O2+). We find that collisional de-excitation has a major influence on the line fluxes in the proplyds. If this is not properly accounted for then physical conditions deduced from commonly used line ratios will be in error, leading to unreliable chemical abundances for these objects. We obtain the intrinsic emission of the proplyds 177-341, 170-337 and 170-334 by a direct subtraction of the background emission, though the last two present some background contamination due to their small sizes. A detailed analysis of 177-341 spectra reveals the presence of high-density gas (3.8\times10^5 cm^-3) in contrast to the typical values observed in the background gas of the nebula (3800 cm^-3). We also explore how the background subtraction could be affected by the possible opacity of the proplyd. We construct a physical model for the proplyd 177-341 finding a good agreement between the predicted and observed line ratios. Finally, we find that the use of reliable physical conditions returns an ADF(O2+) about zero for the intrinsic spectra of 177-341, while the background emission presents the typical ADF(O2+) observed in the Orion Nebula. We conclude that the presence of high-density ionized gas is severely affecting the abundances determined from CELs and, therefore, those from RLs should be considered as a better approximation to the true abundances.

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arXiv2011

Radiation-magnetohydrodynamic simulations of HII regions and their associated PDRs in turbulent molecular clouds

We present the results of radiation-magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the expansion of HII regions and surrounding photodissociation regions in turbulent, magnetised, molecular clouds on scales of up to 4 parsecs, including the effects of ionising and non-ionising ultraviolet radiation and x rays from young star clusters. We find that HII region expansion reduces the disordered component of the B field, imposing a large-scale order on the field around its border. The field in the neutral gas lies along the ionisation front, while the field in the ionised gas tends to be perpendicular to this. The highest pressure compressed neutral/molecular gas is driven towards approximate equipartition between thermal/magnetic/turbulent energy densities, whereas lower pressure neutral/molecular gas divides into quiescent, magnetically dominated regions, and, on the other hand, turbulent, demagnetised regions. The ionised gas shows approximate thermal/turbulent equipartition, but with magnetic energy densities 1 to 3 orders of magnitude lower. A high velocity dispersion (approx 8 km/s) is maintained in the ionised gas throughout our simulations, despite the mean expansion velocity being significantly lower. The B field does not significantly brake the HII region expansion on the length and timescales accessible to our simulations, but it does tend to suppress the small-scale fragmentation and radiation-driven implosion of neutral/molecular gas that forms globules and pillars at the edge of the HII region. However, the relative luminosity of ionising and non-ionising radiation has a much larger influence than the presence or absence of the B field. When the radiation field is relatively soft (as in the case of a lower mass cluster, with earliest spectral type of B0.5), then fragmentation is less vigorous and a thick, relatively smooth PDR forms. Movies available at http://youtube.com/user/divBequals0

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arXiv2009

Diffuse continuum transfer in H II regions

We compare the accuracy of various methods for determining the transfer of the diffuse Lyman continuum in HII regions, by comparing them with a high-resolution discrete-ordinate integration. We use these results to suggest how, in multidimensional dynamical simulations, the diffuse field may be treated with acceptable accuracy without requiring detailed transport solutions. The angular distribution of the diffuse field derived from the numerical integration provides insight into the likely effects of the diffuse field for various material distributions.

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arXiv2009

Rotationally Warm Molecular Hydrogen in the Orion Bar

The Orion Bar is one of the nearest and best-studied photodissociation or photon-dominated regions (PDRs). Observations reveal the presence of H2 lines from vibrationally or rotationally excited upper levels that suggest warm gas temperatures (400 to 700 K). However, standard models of PDRs are unable to reproduce such warm rotational temperatures. In this paper we attempt to explain these observations with new comprehensive models which extend from the H+ region through the Bar and include the magnetic field in the equation of state. We adopt the model parameters from our previous paper which successfully reproduced a wide variety of spectral observations across the Bar. In this model the local cosmic-ray density is enhanced above the galactic background, as is the magnetic field, and which increases the cosmic-ray heating elevating the temperature in the molecular region. The pressure is further enhanced above the gas pressure in the H+ region by the momentum transferred from the absorbed starlight. Here we investigate whether the observed H2 lines can be reproduced with standard assumptions concerning the grain photoelectric emission. We also explore the effects due to the inclusion of recently computed H2 + H2, H2 + H and H2 + He collisional rate coefficients.

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arXiv2009

Tangential Motions and Spectroscopy within NGC 6720, the Ring Nebula

We have combined recent Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 images in the [O III] 5007 and [N II] 6583 lines with similar images made 9.557 years earlier to determine the motion of the Ring Nebula within the plane of the sky. Scaled ratio images argue for homologous expansion, that is, larger velocities scale with increasing distance from the central star. The rather noisy pattern of motion of individual features argues for the same conclusion and that the silhouetted knots move at the same rate as the surrounding gas. These tangential velocities are combined with information from a recent high resolution radial velocity study to determine a dynamic distance, which is in basic agreement with the distance determined from the parallax of the central star. We have also obtained very high signal to noise ratio moderate resolution spectra (9.4 Angstrom) along the major and minor axes of the nebula and from this determined the electron temperatures and density in the multiple ionization zones present. These results confirm the status of the Ring Nebula as one of the older planetary nebulae, with a central star transitioning to the white dwarf cooling curve. (Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA Contract No. NAS 5-26555 and the San Pedro Martir Observatory operated by the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico.)

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arXiv2008

The three dimensional dynamic structure of the inner Orion Nebula

The three dimensional structure of the brightest part of the Orion Nebula is assessed in the light of published and new data. We find that the widely accepted model of a concave blister of ionized material needs to be altered in the southwest direction from the Trapezium, where we find that the Orion-S feature is a separate cloud of very optically thick molecules within the body of ionized gas, which is probably the location of the multiple embedded sources that produce the outflows that define the Orion-S star formation region. Evidence for this cloud comes from the presence of H2CO lines in absorption in the radio continuum and discrepancies in the extinction derived from radio-optical and optical only emission. We present an equilibrium Cloudy model of the Orion-S cloud, which successfully reproduces many observed properties of this feature. We also report the discovery of an open-sided shell of [O III] surrounding the Trapezium stars, revealed through emission line ratio images and the onset of radiation shadows beyond some proplyds. We show that the observed properties of the shell are consistent with it being a stationary structure, produced by shock interactions between the ambient nebular gas and the high-velocity wind from theta^1 Ori C. We examine the implications of the recently published evidence for a large blueshifted velocity of theta^1 Ori C with respect to the Orion Molecular Cloud, which could mean that this star has only recently begun to photoionize the Orion Nebula. We show that current observations of the Nebula do not rule out such a possibility, so long as the ionization front has propagated into a pre-existing low-density region. In addition, a young age for the Nebula would help explain the presence of nearby proplyds with a short mass-loss timescale to photoablation.

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arXiv2008

High Velocity Features in the Orion Nebula

We have used widely spaced in time Hubble Space Telescope images to determine tangential velocities of features associated with outflows from young stars. These observations were supplemented by groundbased telescope spectroscopy and from the resultant radial velocities, space velocities were determined for many outflows. Numerous new moving features were found and grouped into known and newly assigned Herbig Haro objects. It was found that stellar outflow is highly discontinuous, as frequently is the case, with long-term gaps of a few hundred years and that these outflow periods are marked by staccato bursts over periods of about ten years. Although this has been observed in other regions, the Orion Nebula Cluster presents the richest display of this property. Most of the large scale Herbig Haro objects in the brightest part of the Orion Nebula appear to originate from a small region northeast of the strong Orion-S radio and infrared sources. With the possible exception of HH 203, we are not able to identify specific stellar sources, but do identify candidate sources for several other bright Herbig Haro objects. We find that there are optical features in the BN-KL region that can be related to the known large scale outflow that originates there. We find additional evidence for this outflow originating 500 to 1000 years ago.

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arXiv2008

Velocity Structure in the Orion Nebula. II. Emission Line Atlas of Partially Ionized to Fully Ionized Gas

We present an atlas of three-dimensional (position-position-velocity) spectra of the Orion Nebula in optical emission lines from a variety of different ionization stages: [O I] 6300, [S II] 6716,6731, [N II] 6584, [S III] 6312, H alpha 6563, and [O III] 5007. These transitions provide point to point information about the physical structure and kinematics of the nebula at an effective resolution of 3'' x 2'' x 10 km/s, clearly showing the large scale behavior of the ionized gas and the presence of localized phenomena such as Herbig-Haro outflows. As an example application of the atlas, we present a statistical analysis of the widths of the H alpha, [O III], and [N II] lines that permits a determination of the mean electron temperature in the nebula of (9200 +/- 400) K. We also find, in contradiction to previous claims, that the non-thermal line broadening is not significantly different between recombination lines and collisional lines.

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arXiv2007

Oxygen-rich droplets and the enrichment of the ISM

We argue that the discrepancies observed in HII regions between abundances derived from optical recombination lines (ORLs) and collisionally excited lines (CELs) might well be the signature of a scenario of the enrichment of the interstellar medium (ISM) proposed by Tenorio-Tagle (1996). In this scenario, the fresh oxygen released during massive supernova explosions is confined within the hot superbubbles as long as supernovae continue to explode. Only after the last massive supernova explosion, the metal-rich gas starts cooling down and falls on the galaxy within metal-rich droplets. Full mixing of these metal-rich droplets and the ISM occurs during photoionization by the next generations of massive stars. During this process, the metal-rich droplets give rise to strong recombination lines of the metals, leading to the observed ORL-CEL discrepancy. (The full version of this work is submitted to Astronomy and Astrophysics.)

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arXiv2007

Determination of the Physical Conditions of the Knots in the Helix Nebula from Optical and Infrared Observations

[Abridged] We use new HST and archived images to clarify the nature of the knots in the Helix Nebula. We employ published far infrared spectrophotometry and existing 2.12 micron images to establish that the population distribution of the lowest ro-vibrational states of H2 is close to the distribution of a gas in LTE at 988 +- 119 K. We derive a total flux from the nebula in H2 lines and compare this with the power available from the central star for producing this radiation. We establish that neither soft X-rays nor FUV radiation has enough energy to power the H2 radiation, only the stellar EUV radiation shortward of 912 Angstrom does. Advection of material from the cold regions of the knots produces an extensive zone where both atomic and molecular hydrogen are found, allowing the H2 to directly be heated by Lyman continuum radiation, thus providing a mechanism that can explain the excitation temperature and surface brightness of the cusps and tails. New images of the knot 378-801 reveal that the 2.12 micron cusp and tail lie immediately inside the ionized atomic gas zone. This firmly establishes that the "tail" structure is an ionization bounded radiation shadow behind the optically thick core of the knot. A unique new image in the HeII 4686 Angstrom line fails to show any emission from knots that might have been found in the He++ core of the nebula. We also re-examined high signal-to-noise ratio ground-based telescope images of this same inner region and found no evidence of structures that could be related to knots.

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arXiv2007

Large Scale Flows from Orion-South

Multiple optical outflows are known to exist in the vicinity of the active star formation region called Orion-South (Orion-S). We have mapped the velocity of low ionization features in the brightest part of the Orion Nebula, including Orion-S, and imaged the entire nebula with the Hubble Space Telescope. These new data, combined with recent high resolution radio maps of outflows from the Orion-S region, allow us to trace the origin of the optical outflows. It is confirmed that HH 625 arises from the blueshifted lobe of the CO outflow from 136-359 in Orion-S while it is likely that HH 507 arises from the blueshifted lobe of the SiO outflow from the nearby source 135-356. It is likely that redshifted lobes are deflected within the photon dominated region behind the optical nebula. This leads to a possible identification of a new large shock to the southwest from Orion-S as being driven by the redshifted CO outflow arising from 137-408. The distant object HH 400 is seen to have two even further components and these all are probably linked to either HH 203, HH 204, or HH 528. Distant shocks on the west side of the nebula may be related to HH 269. The sources of multiple bright blueshifted Herbig-Haro objects (HH 202, HH 203, HH 204, HH 269, HH 528) remain unidentified, in spite of earlier claimed identifications. Some of this lack of identification may arise from the fact that deflection in radial velocity can also produce a change in direction in the plane of the sky. The best way to resolve this open question is through improved tangential velocities of low ionization features arising where the outflows first break out into the ionized nebula.

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arXiv2006

Velocity Structure in the Orion Nebula. I. Spectral Mapping in Low-Ionization Lines

High-dispersion echelle spectroscopy in optical forbidden lines of O^0, S^+, and S^2+ is used to construct velocity-resolved images and electron density maps of the inner region of the Orion nebula with a resolution of 10 km s-1 x 3" x 2". Among the objects and regions newly discovered in this study are (1) the Diffuse Blue Layer: an extended layer of moderately blue-shifted, low-density, low-ionization emission in the southeast region of the nebula; (2) the Red Bay: a region to the east of the Trapezium where the usual correlation between velocity and ionization potential is very weak, and where the emitting layer is very thick; and (3) HH 873: a new redshifted jet to the southwest of the Trapezium.

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arXiv2005

Photoevaporation Flows in Blister HII Regions: I. Smooth Ionization Fronts and Application to the Orion Nebula

We present hydrodynamical simulations of the photoevaporation of a cloud with large-scale density gradients, giving rise to an ionized, photoevaporation flow. The flow is found to be approximately steady during the large part of its evolution, during which it can resemble a "champagne flow" or a "globule flow" depending on the curvature of the ionization front. The distance from source to ionization front and the front curvature uniquely determine the structure of the flow, with the curvature depending on the steepness of the lateral density gradient in the neutral cloud. We compare these simulations with both new and existing observations of the Orion nebula and find that a model with a mildly convex ionization front can reproduce the profiles of emission measure, electron density, and mean line velocity for a variety of emitting ions on scales of 10^{17} to 10^{18} cm. The principal failure of our model is that we cannot explain the large observed widths of the [O I] 6300 Angstrom line that forms at the ionization front.

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arXiv2005

A Multi-Instrument Study of the Helix Nebula Knots with the Hubble Space Telescope

We have conducted a combined observational and theoretical investigation of the ubiquitous knots in the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293). We have constructed a combined hydrodynamic+radiation model for the ionized portion of these knots and have accurately calculated a static model for their molecular regions. Imaging observations in optical emission lines were made with the Hubble Space Telescope's STIS spectrograph, operating in a "slitless" mode, complemented by WFPC2 images in several of the same lines. The NICMOS camera was used to image the knots in molecular hydrogen. These observations, when combined with other studies of molecular hydrogen and CO provide a complete characterization of the knots. They possess dense molecular cores of densities about 1,000,000 per cubic centimeter surrounded on the central star side by a zone of hot molecular hydrogen. The temperature of the molecular hydrogen emitting layer defies explanation either through detailed calculations for radiative equilibrium or for simplistic calculations for shock excitation. Further away from the core is the ionized zone, whose peculiar distribution of emission lines is explained by the expansion effects of material flowing through this region. The shadowed region behind the core is the source of most of the CO emission from the knot and is of the low temperature expected for a radiatively heated molecular region.

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arXiv2002

MERLIN radio detection of an interaction zone within a binary Orion proplyd system

Presented here are high angular resolution MERLIN 5 GHz (6 cm) continuum observations of the binary proplyd system, LV 1 in the Orion nebula, which consists of proplyd 168--326SE and its binary proplyd companion 168--326NW (separation 0.4 arcsec). Accurate astrometric alignment allows a detailed comparison between these data and published HST PC Halpha and [Oiii] images. Thermal radio sources coincide with the two proplyds and originate in the ionized photoevaporating flows seen in the optical emission lines. Flow velocities of approx 50 km/s from the ionized proplyd surfaces and \geq 100 km/s from a possible micro-jet have been detected using the Manchester Echelle spectrometer. A third radio source is found to coincide with a region of extended, high excitation, optical line emission that lies between the binary proplyds 168--326SE/326NW . This is modelled as a bowshock due to the collision of the photoevaporating flows from the two proplyds. Both a thermal and a non-thermal origin for the radio emission in this collision zone are considered.

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arXiv1999

A Keck High Resolution Spectroscopic Study of the Orion Nebula Proplyds

We present the results of spectroscopy of four bright proplyds in the Orion Nebula obtained at a velocity resolution of 6 km/s. After careful isolation of the proplyd spectra from the confusing nebular radiation, the emission line profiles are compared with those predicted by realistic dynamic/photoionization models of the objects. The spectral line widths show a clear correlation with ionization potential, which is consistent with the free expansion of a transonic, ionization-stratified, photoevaporating flow. Fitting models of such a flow simultaneously to our spectra and HST emission line imaging provides direct measurements of the proplyd size, ionized density and outflow velocity. These measurements confirm that the ionization front in the proplyds is approximately D-critical and provide the most accurate and robust estimate to date of the proplyd mass loss rate. Values of 0.7E-6 to 1.5E-6 Msun/year are found for our spectroscopic sample, although extrapolating our results to a larger sample of proplyds implies that 0.4E-6 Msun/year is more typical of the proplyds as a whole. In view of the reported limits on the masses of the circumstellar disks within the proplyds, the length of time that they can have been exposed to ionizing radiation should not greatly exceed 10,000 years - a factor of 30 less than the mean age of the proplyd stars. We review the various mechanisms that have been proposed to explain this situation, and conclude that none can plausibly work unless the disk masses are revised upwards by a substantial amount.

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arXiv1997

Two-wind interaction models of the proplyds in the Orion nebula

Many low-mass stars in the Orion nebula are associated with very compact (~= 1 arcsec) emission knots, known variously as proplyds, PIGs or LV knots. Some of these knots are teardrop-shaped, with ``tails'' pointing away from the massive star Theta 1 Ori C, which is the principal exciting star of the nebula. We discuss models of such knots, which invoke the interaction of the fast stellar wind from Theta 1 Ori C with a transonic photoevaporated flow from the surface of an accretion disk around a young low-mass star. We review previous analytic work and compare the results of the model with the observed brightnesses, morphologies and emission line profiles of the knots, as well as presenting new results from numerical hydrodynamical simulations.

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arXiv1994

Doppler Ghosts in a Hall of Mirrors: Polarisation Profiles of Scattered Emission Lines

The Doppler shifts of optical emission lines which have been scattered by surrounding dust and electrons can provide useful information about the kinematics, geometry and physical conditions of astrophysical flows. In principle, the scatterers can provide views of the line-emitting gas from different directions, allowing the 3-d velocity field of the emitting gas to be determined and revealing sources which are hidden from direct view. Unfortunately, as in a Hall of Mirrors, the resultant multiple images can be confusing and hard to interpret. In general, the scattering geometry will be unknown, which makes it difficult to disentangle the effect of the motion of the scatterers from that of the motion of the emitting source. In this situation, spectropolarimetric observations can be a great help, since the scattered light will be partially polarised to a degree dependent on the angle of scattering and on the details of the scattering process. Analysis of the polarisation profiles of the scattered emission lines can then determine the relative orientation and velocity of the source and the scatterers. Such techniques are applied to the upstream scattered emission lines in the HH 1 jet, where it is shown that spectropolarimetric measurements would allow an independent determination of the bowshock velocity with respect to the upstream matter, which would test ``multiple outburst'' models of the jet.

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