Radio Recombination Lines in Galactic H ii Regions

Abstract

We report radio recombination line (RRL) and continuum observations of a sample of 106 Galactic H II regions made with the NRAO 140 Foot (43 m) radio telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia. We believe this to be the most sensitive RRL survey ever made for a sample this large. Most of our source integration times range between 6 and 90 hr, yielding typical rms noise levels of ~1.0-3.5 mK. Our data result from two different experiments performed, calibrated, and analyzed in similar ways. A C II survey was made at the 3.5 cm wavelength to obtain accurate measurements of carbon radio recombination lines. When combined with atomic (C I) and molecular (CO) data, these measurements will constrain the composition, structure, kinematics, and physical properties of the photodissociation regions that lie on the edges of H II regions. A second survey was made at the 3.5 cm wavelength to determine the abundance of 3He in the interstellar medium of the Milky Way. Together with measurements of the 3He+ hyperfine line, we get high-precision RRL parameters for H, 4He, and C. Here we discuss significant improvements in these data with both longer integrations and newly observed sources.