Two New Views of the Dense Interstellar Medium

AST 9530695 星际致密介质的两种新观点。 Jaffe博士将利用加州理工学院亚毫米望远镜上的一种经过验证的新型仪器和麦克唐纳天文台和CTIO的大光束法布里-珀罗对星际介质进行调查。 主要目标是描述致密星际介质中物质的部分，其中来自年轻恒星的紫外光子主导气体的电离状态和能量。 这些区域主要是分子，但分子材料的最常见示踪剂CO可以耗尽或不存在。 受紫外线影响的物质中的高电子密度可能会阻止它参与星星的形成。 如果是这样的话，物质的丰度和性质将在决定分子云中星星形成的效率方面发挥作用。 Jaffe博士项目的方法是确定大尺度上受紫外线影响的分子气体的数量、分布和物理性质。 =================================================

AST 9530695 Two New Views of the Dense Interstellar Medium. Dr. Jaffe will utilize a proven, novel instrument on the CalTech Submillimeter Telescope and a big-beam Fabry-Perot at McDonald Observatory and at CTIO for a survey of the interstellar medium. The primary goal is to characterize the portion of the material in the dense interstellar medium where ultraviolet photons from young stars dominate the ionization state and energetics of the gas. Such regions are predominantly molecular, but the most common tracer of molecular material, CO, can be depleted or absent. The high electron densities in the ultraviolet influenced material may prevent it from participating in star formation. If this is the case, the abundance and nature of the material will play a role in determining the efficiency of star formation in molecular clouds. The approach of Dr. Jaffe's project is to determine the amount, distribution, and physical properties of the ultraviolet influenced molecular gas over large scales. =================================================