Molecular tracers of radiative feedback in Orion (OMC-1) Widespread CH+ (J = 1-0), CO (10-9), HCN (6-5), and HCO+ (6-5) emission.

Young massive stars regulate the physical conditions, ionization, and fate of their natal molecular cloud and surroundings. It is important to find tracers that help quantifying the stellar feedback processes that take place at different spatial scales. We present ~85 arcmin2 (~1.3 pc2) velocity-resolved maps of several submillimeter molecular lines, taken with Herschel/HIFI, toward the closest high-mass star-forming region, the Orion molecular cloud 1 core (OMC-1). The observed rotational lines include probes of warm and dense molecular gas that are difficult, if not impossible, to detect from ground-based telescopes: CH+ (J = 1-0), CO (J = 10-9), HCO+ (J = 6-5) and HCN (J = 6-5), and CH (N, J =1, 3/2-1, 1/2). These lines trace an extended but thin layer (A V ≃3-6 mag or ~1016 cm) of molecular gas at high thermal pressure, P th = n H · T k ≈ 107 - 109 cm-3 K, associated with the far ultraviolet (FUV) irradiated surface of OMC-1. The intense FUV radiation field, emerging from massive stars in the Trapezium cluster, heats, compresses and photoevaporates the cloud edge. It also triggers the formation of specific reactive molecules such as CH+. We find that the CH+ (J = 1-0) emission spatially correlates with the flux of FUV photons impinging the cloud: G 0 from ~103 to ~105. This correlation is supported by constant-pressure photodissociation region (PDR) models in the parameter space P th/G 0 ≈ [5 · 103 - 8 · 104] cm-3 K where many observed PDRs seem to lie. The CH+ (J = 1-0) emission spatially correlates with the extended infrared emission from vibrationally excited H2 (v ≥ 1), and with that of [C ii] 158 µm and CO J = 10-9, all emerging from FUV-irradiated gas. These correlations link the presence of CH+ to the availability of C+ ions and of FUV-pumped H2 (v ≥ 1) molecules. We conclude that the parsec-scale CH+ emission and narrow-line (Δv ≃ 3 km s-1) mid-J CO emission arises from extended PDR gas and not from fast shocks. PDR line tracers are the smoking gun of the stellar feedback from young massive stars. The PDR cloud surface component in OMC-1, with a mass density of 120-240 M ⊙ pc-2, represents ~5% to ~10% of the total gas mass, however, it dominates the emitted line luminosity; the average CO J = 10-9 surface luminosity in the mapped region being ~35 times brighter than that of CO J = 2-1. These results provide insights into the source of submillimeter CH+ and mid-J CO emission from distant star-forming galaxies.

Far-infrared observations of a massive cluster forming in the Monoceros R2 filament hub⋆.

We present far-infrared observations of Monoceros R2 (a giant molecular cloud at approximately 830 pc distance, containing several sites of active star formation), as observed at 70 µm, 160 µm, 250 µm, 350 µm, and 500 µm by the Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) and Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) instruments on the Herschel Space Observatory as part of the Herschel imaging survey of OB young stellar objects (HOBYS) Key programme. The Herschel data are complemented by SCUBA-2 data in the submillimetre range, and WISE and Spitzer data in the mid-infrared. In addition, C18O data from the IRAM 30-m Telescope are presented, and used for kinematic information. Sources were extracted from the maps with getsources, and from the fluxes measured, spectral energy distributions were constructed, allowing measurements of source mass and dust temperature. Of 177 Herschel sources robustly detected in the region (a detection with high signal-to-noise and low axis ratio at multiple wavelengths), including protostars and starless cores, 29 are found in a filamentary hub at the centre of the region (a little over 1% of the observed area). These objects are on average smaller, more massive, and more luminous than those in the surrounding regions (which together suggest that they are at a later stage of evolution), a result that cannot be explained entirely by selection effects. These results suggest a picture in which the hub may have begun star formation at a point significantly earlier than the outer regions, possibly forming as a result of feedback from earlier star formation. Furthermore, the hub may be sustaining its star formation by accreting material from the surrounding filaments.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and molecular hydrogen in oxygen-rich planetary nebulae: the case of NGC 6720.

Evolved stars are primary sources for the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and dust grains. Their circumstellar chemistry is usually designated as either oxygen-rich or carbon-rich, although dual-dust chemistry objects, whose infrared spectra reveal both silicate- and carbon-dust features, are also known. The exact origin and nature of this dual-dust chemistry is not yet understood. Spitzer-IRS mid-infrared spectroscopic imaging of the nearby, oxygen-rich planetary nebula NGC 6720 reveals the presence of the 11.3 µm aromatic (PAH) emission band. It is attributed to emission from neutral PAHs, since no band is observed in the 7-8 µm range. The spatial distribution of PAHs is found to closely follow that of the warm clumpy molecular hydrogen emission. Emission from both neutral PAHs and warm H2 is likely to arise from photo-dissociation regions associated with dense knots that are located within the main ring. The presence of PAHs together with the previously derived high abundance of free carbon (relative to CO) suggest that the local conditions in an oxygen-rich environment can also become conducive to in-situ formation of large carbonaceous molecules, such as PAHs, via a bottom-up chemical pathway. In this scenario, the same stellar source can enrich the interstellar medium with both oxygen-rich dust and large carbonaceous molecules.

VELOCITY-RESOLVED [C ii] EMISSION AND [C ii]/FIR MAPPING ALONG ORION WITH HERSCHEL.

We present the first ~7.5'×11.5' velocity-resolved (~0.2 km s-1) map of the [C ii] 158 µm line toward the Orion molecular cloud 1 (OMC 1) taken with the Herschel/HIFI instrument. In combination with far-infrared (FIR) photometric images and velocity-resolved maps of the H41α hydrogen recombination and CO J=2-1 lines, this data set provides an unprecedented view of the intricate small-scale kinematics of the ionized/PDR/molecular gas interfaces and of the radiative feedback from massive stars. The main contribution to the [C ii] luminosity (~85 %) is from the extended, FUV-illuminated face of the cloud (G0>500, nH>5×103 cm-3) and from dense PDRs (G≳104, nH≳105 cm-3) at the interface between OMC 1 and the H ii region surrounding the Trapezium cluster. Around ~15 % of the [C ii] emission arises from a different gas component without CO counterpart. The [C ii] excitation, PDR gas turbulence, line opacity (from [13C ii]) and role of the geometry of the illuminating stars with respect to the cloud are investigated. We construct maps of the L[C ii]/LFIR and LFIR/MGas ratios and show that L[C ii]/LFIR decreases from the extended cloud component (~10-2-10-3) to the more opaque star-forming cores (~10-3-10-4). The lowest values are reminiscent of the "[C ii] deficit" seen in local ultra-luminous IR galaxies hosting vigorous star formation. Spatial correlation analysis shows that the decreasing L[C ii]/LFIR ratio correlates better with the column density of dust through the molecular cloud than with LFIR/MGas. We conclude that the [C ii] emitting column relative to the total dust column along each line of sight is responsible for the observed L[C ii]/LFIR variations through the cloud.