Interstellar Clouds Research Articles

Galaxy clusters in Milgromian dynamics: Missing matter, hydrostatic bias, and the external field effect

We study the mass distribution of galaxy clusters in Milgromian dynamics, or modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND). We focus on five galaxy clusters from the X-COP sample, for which high-quality data are available on both the baryonic mass distribution (gas and stars) and internal dynamics (from the hydrostatic equilibrium of hot gas and the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect). We confirm that galaxy clusters require additional `missing matter' in MOND, although the required amount is drastically reduced with respect to the non-baryonic dark matter in the context of Newtonian dynamics. We studied the spatial distribution of the missing matter by fitting the acceleration profiles of the clusters with a Bayesian method, finding that a physical density profile with an inner core and an outer $r^ $ decline (giving a finite total mass) provide good fits within sim 1 Mpc. At larger radii, the fit results are less satisfactory but the combination of the MOND external field effect and hydrostatic bias (quantified as 10$<!PCT!>$-40$<!PCT!>$) can play a key role. The missing mass must be more centrally concentrated than the intracluster medium (ICM). For relaxed clusters (A1795, A2029, A2142), the ratio of missing-to-visible mass is around $1-5$ at $R kpc and decreases to $0.4-1.1$ at $R Mpc, showing that the total amount of missing mass is smaller than or comparable to the ICM mass. For clusters with known merger signatures (A644 and A2319), this global ratio increases up to sim 5 but may indicate out-of-equilibrium dynamics rather than actual missing mass. We discuss various possibilities regarding the nature of the extra mass, in particular `missing baryons' in the form of pressure-confined cold gas clouds with masses of $<10^5$ M$_ and sizes of $< 50$ pc.

Early Detection System for Gas Leakage and Fire in Smart Home Using IOT

Gas leakage is an important environmental, commercial and residential problem that threatens human health, safety and the environment. Traditional gas detection methods often lack the ability to track time and do not provide timely information, leading to accidents and damage. In this context, Internet of Things (IoT) technology has been found to provide a reliable solution for continuous monitoring and remote management of gas detection systems. This paper presents an IoT-based gas leak detection system to improve safety and reduce the risk of gas leakage. leak. The proposed system integrates gas sensors, microcontrollers, communication modules and cloud computing infrastructure to enable real-time monitoring, data analysis and remote monitoring. Gas detectors used in designated areas indicated the presence of hazardous gases, and data was collected directly from the 's central processing unit for analysis. The system provides rapid rescue and intervention by sending instant notifications via mobile applications in case of a gas leak. The main features of the proposed system are scalability, flexibility and interoperability, allowing integration with existing infrastructure and integration of different protocols. Additionally, the use of a cloud-based platform facilitates data storage, analysis and visualization, allowing partners to gain insight intogasleaks, processes and possible consequences

Young Metal-Rich Stars in the Halo of M82: a tidal dwarf galaxy?

Abstract We present Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys photometry of an arc structure of stars in the southern halo of M82. The structure is located at a projected height of ≈5 kpc from the disk of M82 but its stellar content exhibits a younger mean age than that of typical halo stars. We measured the distance, mean age, and peak metallicity of the stars in the arc and used them to determine the structure’s origin. The arc color-magnitude diagram yields a tip of red giant branch (RGB) distance of 3.63 ± 0.08 Mpc, similar to that of M82, confirming its association with the galaxy. The color-magnitude diagram also reveals a population of predominantly young stars with a mean age of ≈100 - 160 Myr, which is similar to that of the young stars formed in the tidal debris between M81, M82, and NGC 3077. We derived the mean metallicity of the halo stars surrounding the arc to be [Fe/H] ≈ -1.0, similar to that of the RGB population of the halo of M81. The RGB stars in the arc, while they are slightly more metal-rich than the halo RGB, show no spatial correlation with the young stars, suggesting that the arc is consist of mainly young stellar population. Furthermore, the observed age gradient along the structure of the arc indicates that the arc began forming from the closer side to M82, then moving outward. Taken together, the results suggest that the formation of the young stars which gives rise to the arc structure could have been triggered by the interactions between M82’s southern outflow and the HI gas clouds surrounding it, representing a snapshot of a tidal dwarf galaxy in the process of forming.

Simulations of early structure formation: Properties of halos that host primordial star formation

Context. Population III (pop III) stars were born in halos characterised by a pristine gas composition. In such a halo, once the gas density reaches nH ∼ 1 cm−3, molecular cooling leads to the collapse of the gas and the birth of pop III stars. Halo properties, such as the chemical abundances, mass, and angular momentum can affect the collapse of the gas, thereby leading to the pop III initial mass function (IMF) of star formation. Aims. We want to study the properties of primordial halos and how halos that host early star formation differ from other types of halos. The aim of this study is to obtain a representative population of halos at a given redshift hosting a cold and massive gas cloud that enables the birth of the first stars. Methods. We investigated the growth of primordial halos in a ΛCDM Universe in a large cosmological simulation. We used the hydrodynamic code RAMSES and the chemical solver KROME to study halo formation with non-equilibrium thermochemistry. We then identified structures in the dark and baryonic matter fields, thereby linking the presence or absence of dense gas clouds to the mass and the physical properties of the hosting halos. Results. In our simulations, the mass threshold for a halo for hosting a cold dense gas cloud is ≃7 × 105 M⊙ and the threshold in the H2 mass fraction is found to be ≃2 × 10−4. This is in agreement with previous works. We find that the halo history and accretion rate play a minor role. Here, we present halos with higher HD abundances, which are shown to be colder, as the temperature in the range between 102 − 104 cm−3 depends on the HD abundance to a large extent. The higher fraction of HD is linked to the higher spin parameter that is seen for the dense gas.

Rovibrational calculations without model Hamiltonians: The infrared and microwave spectra of thiopropynal

AbstractRovibrational configuration interaction theory has been used to study the rotational spectrum and low lying rovibrational states of thiopropynal, a molecule, which has recently been detected in an interstellar cloud. Geometrical parameters, fundamental vibrational transitions and spectroscopic constants are also provided. All calculations rely on an ‐mode representation of the multidimensional potential energy surface, which has been obtained from explicitly correlated coupled‐cluster approaches including core correlation effects and an approximate treatment of high‐order coupled‐cluster terms. Comparison with experimental data is provided for several properties and the agreement was found to be excellent in most cases.

Dark No More: The Low-luminosity Stellar Counterpart of a Dark Cloud in the Virgo Cluster* * Based on observations obtained with the Hobby–Eberly Telescope (HET), which is a joint project of the University of Texas at Austin, the Pennsylvania State University, Ludwig-Maximillians-Universitaet Muenchen, and Georg-August Universitaet Goettingen. The HET is named in honor of its principal benefactors, William P. Hobby and Robert E. Eberly.

We have discovered the stellar counterpart to the ALFALFA Virgo 7 cloud complex, which has been thought to be optically dark and nearly star-free since its discovery in 2007. This ∼190 kpc long chain of enormous atomic gas clouds (M H i ∼ 109 M ⊙) is embedded in the hot intracluster medium of the Virgo galaxy cluster but is isolated from any galaxy. Its faint, blue stellar counterpart, BC6, was identified in a visual search of archival optical and UV imaging. Follow-up observations with the Green Bank Telescope, Hobby–Eberly Telescope, and Hubble Space Telescope demonstrate that this faint counterpart is at the same velocity as the atomic gas, actively forming stars, and metal-rich (12 + (O/H) = 8.58 ± 0.25). We estimate its stellar mass to be only log(M*/M⊙)∼4.4 , making it one of the most gas-rich stellar systems known. Aside from its extraordinary gas content, the properties of BC6 are entirely consistent with those of a recently identified class of young, low-mass, isolated, and star-forming clouds in Virgo that appear to have formed via extreme ram pressure stripping events. We expand the existing discussion of the origin of this structure and suggest NGC 4522 as a likely candidate; however, the current evidence is not fully consistent with any of our proposed progenitor galaxies. We anticipate that other “dark” gas clouds in Virgo may have similarly faint, star-forming counterparts. We aim to identify these through the help of a citizen science search of the entire cluster.

Limits on the OH Molecule in the Smith High-velocity Cloud

We have used the Green Bank Telescope to search for the OH molecule at several locations in the Smith Cloud, one of the most prominent of the high-velocity clouds surrounding the Milky Way. Five positions with high H i column density were selected as targets for individual pointings, along with a square degree around a molecular cloud detected with the Planck telescope near the tip of the Smith Cloud. Gas in the Galactic disk with similar values of N HI has detectable OH emission. Although we found OH at velocities consistent with the foreground Aquila molecular cloud, nothing was found at the velocity of the Smith Cloud to an rms level of 0.7 mK (T b ) in a 1 km s−1 channel. The three positions that give the strictest limits on OH are analyzed in detail. Their combined data imply a 5σ limit on N(H2)/N HI ≤ 0.03, scaled by a factor dependent on the OH excitation temperature and background continuum T ex/(T ex − T bg). There is no evidence for far-infrared emission from dust within the Smith Cloud. These results are consistent with expectations for a low-metallicity diffuse cloud exposed to the radiation field of the Galactic halo, rather than a product of a galactic fountain.

Flattened Galaxy Rotation Curves in the Exochronous Metric

We examine some of the consequences of the Exochronous (timeless) metric and the associated ΣGR cosmological model for the formation of galaxies, and, in particular, their characteristic rotation curves. We show how the cumulative curvature from the multiple spatial hypersurfaces in this model leads to a modified version of the Poisson equation, in which the gravitational potential is computed over 4D space. Using this new form of the Poisson equation, we derive an analytic expression for gravitational potential as a function of radial distance for a uniform gas cloud undergoing gravitational collapse. We show that this results in a radial velocity profile that provides an excellent fit with commonly observed galaxy rotation curves, and hence fully accounts for the effects previously ascribed to dark matter. An expression can be derived for the equivalent matter density profile corresponding to the ΣGR gravitational potential, from which it is evident that this is very similar in form to the well-known Navarro–Frenk–White profile. As a further illustration of the consequences of adopting the Exochronous metric, we show how the principle can readily be incorporated into particle-mesh N-body simulations of large-scale structure evolution, using a relaxation solver for the solution to the Poisson equation and the evolution of the gravitational potential. Examples of the use of this simulation model are shown for the following cases: (a) the initial evolution of a large-scale structure, and (b) galaxy formation from a gravitationally collapsing gas cloud. In both cases, it is possible to directly visualise the build-up of the gravitational potential in 3D space as the simulation evolves and note how this corresponds to what is currently assumed to be dark matter.

Assessment of the spectral misalignment effect (SMILE) on EarthCARE's Multi-Spectral Imager aerosol and cloud property retrievals

Abstract. The Multi-Spectral Imager (MSI) on board the Earth Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) will provide horizontal information about aerosols and clouds. These measurements are needed to extend vertical cloud and aerosol property information, which is obtained from EarthCARE's active sensors, in order to obtain a full three-dimensional view of cloud and aerosol conditions. Mesoscale weather systems, in particular, will be characterized. The discovery of a non-compliance of the MSI visible–near-infrared–shortwave infrared (VNS) camera’s visible (VIS) and shortwave infrared (SWIR1) channels regarding a spectral central wavelength (CWVL) shift across-track of up to 14 nm (VIS) and 20 nm (SWIR1) led to the need for an analysis regarding its impact on MSI Level-2A aerosol and cloud products. A significant influence of the spectral misalignment effect (SMILE) on MSI retrievals is identified due to the spectral variation in gas absorption, surface reflectance, and aerosol and cloud properties within the spectral ranges of these MSI bands. For example, the VIS channel is positioned in close proximity to the red edge of green vegetation and is impacted by residual absorption of water vapor and ozone. Small central wavelength variations introduce uncertainties due to the rapid change in surface reflectance for conditions with low optical thickness. The present central wavelength shift in the VIS towards shorter wavelengths than at nadir introduces a relative error in transmission of up to 3.3 % due to the increasing influence of water vapor and ozone absorption. We found relative errors in the top-of-atmosphere (TOA) signal due to the SMILE of up to 30 % for low optical thickness over a land surface in that band. Since the magnitude of the impact strongly depends on the underlying surface and atmospheric conditions, we conclude that accounting for the SMILE in Level-2 retrievals or correcting the Level-1 signal will improve MSI aerosol and cloud product quality.

Dense stellar clump formation driven by strong quasar winds in the FIRE cosmological hydrodynamic simulations

ABSTRACT We investigate the formation of dense stellar clumps in a suite of high-resolution cosmological zoom-in simulations of a massive, star-forming galaxy at z ∼ 2 under the presence of strong quasar winds. Our simulations include multiphase ISM physics from the Feedback In Realistic Environments (FIRE) project and a novel implementation of hyper-refined accretion disc winds. We show that powerful quasar winds can have a global negative impact on galaxy growth while in the strongest cases triggering the formation of an off-centre clump with stellar mass ${\rm M}_{\star }\sim 10^{7}\, {\rm M}_{\odot }$, effective radius ${\rm R}_{\rm 1/2\, \rm Clump}\sim 20\, {\rm pc}$, and surface density $\Sigma _{\star } \sim 10^{4}\, {\rm M}_{\odot }\, {\rm pc}^{-2}$. The clump progenitor gas cloud is originally not star-forming, but strong ram pressure gradients driven by the quasar winds (orders of magnitude stronger than experienced in the absence of winds) lead to rapid compression and subsequent conversion of gas into stars at densities much higher than the average density of star-forming gas. The AGN-triggered star-forming clump reaches ${\rm SFR} \sim 50\, {\rm M}_{\odot }\, {\rm yr}^{-1}$ and $\Sigma _{\rm SFR} \sim 10^{4}\, {\rm M}_{\odot }\, {\rm yr}^{-1}\, {\rm kpc}^{-2}$, converting most of the progenitor gas cloud into stars in ∼2 Myr, significantly faster than its initial free-fall time and with stellar feedback unable to stop star formation. In contrast, the same gas cloud in the absence of quasar winds forms stars over a much longer period of time (∼35 Myr), at lower densities, and losing spatial coherency. The presence of young, ultra-dense, gravitationally bound stellar clumps in recently quenched galaxies could thus indicate local positive feedback acting alongside the strong negative impact of powerful quasar winds, providing a plausible formation scenario for globular clusters.

Kaleidoscope of irradiated disks: MUSE observations of proplydsin the Orion Nebula Cluster. I. Sample presentation and ionization front sizes

In the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC), protoplanetary disks exhibit ionized gas clouds in the form of a striking teardrop shape as massive stars irradiate the disk material. We present the first spatially and spectrally resolved observations of 12 such objects, known as proplyds, using integral field spectroscopy observations performed with the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument in Narrow Field Mode (NFM) on the Very Large Telescope (VLT). We present the morphology of the proplyds in seven emission lines and measure the radius of the ionization front (I-front) of the targets in four tracers, covering transitions of different ionization states for the same element. We also derive stellar masses for the targets. The measurements follow a consistent trend of increasing I-front radius for a decreasing strength of the far-UV radiation as expected from photoevaporation models. By analyzing the ratios of the I-front radii as measured in the emission lines of O\ i O\ ii and O\ iii we observe the ionization stratification, that is, the most ionized part of the flow being the furthest from the disk (and closest to the UV source). The ratios of ionization front radii scale in the same way for all proplyds in our sample regardless of the incident radiation. We show that the stratification can help constrain the densities near the I-front by using a 1D photoionization model. We derive the upper limits of photoevaporative mass-loss rates ($ M loss $) by assuming ionization equilibrium, and estimate values in the range 1.07--94.5 times 10$^ $ M$_ yr $, with $ M loss $ values decreasing towards lower impinging radiation. We do not find a correlation between the mass-loss rate and stellar mass. The highest mass-loss rate is for the giant proplyd 244-440. These values of $ M loss $, combined with recent estimates of the disk mass with ALMA, confirm previous estimates of the short lifetime of these proplyds. This work demonstrates the potential of this MUSE dataset and offers a new set of observables to be used to test current and future models of external photoevaporation.

Structure, dissociation pathways and thermochemistry of some nitrogen-containing astrophysical molecules: a theoretical study

The structure, relative energies, dissociation pathways and thermochemistry of acetonitrile (CH3CN or methyl cyanide), acrylonitrile (CH2CHCN or vinyl cyanide), propionitrile (CH3CH2CN or ethyl cyanide) and their stable isomers have been studied in detail using density functional B3LYP, B3PW91 and ab initio MP2, QCISD and CCSD(T) methods. Several space missions have already confirmed the abundance of these molecules in different interstellar mediums (ISMs). The existence of related radicals, atoms and molecules are also confirmed using various IR-spectrometric techniques and that may be evolved in solar irradiation in the cold dark core TMC-1 or massive star-forming regions such as Sagittarius B2 or Oion-KL. Possible ways of fragmentation of ground state CH3NC, CH2CHNC and CH3CH2NC through different dissociation channels and their link to other isomers have been considered to justify the presence of such observed radicals in the interstellar cloud. Cyanide(-C≡N), iso-cyanide (-N = C) and imine (-C = N-H) isomeric forms have been considered here and out of these, cyanide isomers are more stable species compared to its iso-nitrile and imine form. Favourable product molecules, such as CH2 radical, C2H2, C2H4 and HCN/HNC, are considered in the dissociation channels.

Laboratory simulations of ice growth in space: An expected nonuniform ice mantle composition

In dense, cold molecular regions, gas-phase chemical species freeze out onto grain surfaces. These icy condensates become an important reservoir of volatile elements and feedstock for molecular diversity. While there is a fairly general agreement on the chemical composition of icy mantles, there are differences in how the various molecular components are perceived to be present. Should the materials composing the ice be mixed or are they segregated into distinct chemical zones? To answer such a question, we performed a few exploratory experiments that allowed the adsorbing surface (mimic dust grains) to slowly relax to very low temperatures while gas-phase mixtures of H2O NH3 and CO embed onto it. We find that mantles are far from being uniform, and they could evolve into completely mixed ices only if the ambient temperature undergoes a catastrophic collapse. Under the typical conditions of an interstellar dense cloud, ices present a high degree of molecular segregation, with possible consequences on the ice chemistry and the desorption mechanisms.

Intermediate Gas Phases within Turbulent Radiative Mixing Layers

Turbulent radiative mixing layers (TRMLs) occur ubiquitously in astrophysical environments; e.g., TRMLs are prevalent within galactic outflows at the intersections between hot supernovae ejecta and cold molecular clouds. A velocity shear between the rapidly outflowing hot gas and cold clouds drives the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability producing TRMLs, with radiative cooling dominating the heat transfer between the gas phases. Using hydrodynamic simulations, we have modeled TRMLs for a range of overdensities (100, 1000, 3000) applied to cold phase temperatures of 400, 103, and 104 K. The production of an intermediate gas phase at the interface between the hot and cold phases is consistently observed at ∼104 K for molecular clouds, in agreement with larger-scale wind-tunnel simulations.

Low-mass Population III Star Formation due to the HD Cooling Induced by Weak Lyman–Werner Radiation

Lyman–Werner (LW) radiation photodissociating molecular hydrogen (H2) influences the thermal and dynamical evolution of the Population III (Pop III) star-forming gas cloud. The effect of powerful LW radiation has been well investigated in the context of supermassive black hole formation in the early Universe. However, the average intensity in the early Universe is several orders of magnitude lower. For a comprehensive study, we investigate the effects of LW radiation at 18 different intensities, ranging from J LW/J 21 = 0 (no radiation) to 30 (H-cooling cloud), on the primordial star-forming gas cloud obtained from a three-dimensional cosmological simulation. The overall trend with increasing radiation intensity is a gradual increase in the gas cloud temperature, consistent with previous works. Due to the HD cooling, however, the dependence of gas cloud temperature on J LW deviates from the aforementioned increasing trend for a specific range of intensities (J LW/J 21 = 0.025–0.09). In HD-cooling clouds, the temperature remained below 200 K during 105 yr after the first formation of the high-density region, maintaining a low accretion rate. Finally, the HD-cooling clouds have only a low-mass dense core (above 108 cm−3) with about 1–16 M ⊙, inside of which a low-mass Pop III star with ≤0.8 M ⊙ (a so-called “surviving star”) could form. The upper limit of star formation efficiency Mcore/Mvir,gas significantly decreases from 10−3 to 10−5 as HD cooling becomes effective. This tendency indicates that, whereas the total gas mass in the host halo increases with the LW radiation intensity, the total Pop III stellar mass does not increase similarly.

Study of the influence of different ignition times on detonation generation and shock wave propagation in high-pressure hydrogen leakage

Hydrogen is an efficient, clean, and renewable energy source. When determining a place for hydrogen energy storage and injection into vehicles, the main safety concern of hydrogen refueling stations is high-pressure hydrogen leakage. In this paper, the CFD method is used to study the effect of different ignition times on the explosion and shock wave propagation of high-pressure hydrogen gas leakage, analyze the distribution of flammable gas clouds, and evaluate the impact of combustion flames, temperature, and explosion-induced overpressure on refueling stations. The results show that the concentration of gas clouds ranges from 0 to 80% (volume concentration). Explosion and combustion phenomena occur at different ignition times during the high-pressure hydrogen gas leakage stage, with a maximum pressure of 2.6 bar and a high temperature of 1500–2400 K. After a high-pressure hydrogen leak, ignition can occur only as an explosive phenomenon. This generates a pressure of up to 3.1 bar and a short-lived high temperature. The pressure increases with the length of the leak, and the hazardous area varies depending on the time of ignition. This paper provides theoretical support for safety issues related to high-pressure hydrogen leakage in refueling stations.

Zooming in on the circumgalactic medium with GIBLE

We used a cosmological zoom-in simulation of a Milky Way-like galaxy to study and quantify the topology of magnetic field lines around cold gas clouds in the circumgalactic medium (CGM). This simulation is a new addition to Project GIBLE, a suite of cosmological magnetohydrodynamic simulations of galaxy formation with preferential super-Lagrangian refinement in the CGM, reaching an unprecedented CGM gas mass resolution of ∼225 M⊙. To maximize statistics and resolution, we focused on a sample of ∼200 clouds with masses of ∼106 M⊙. The topology of magnetic field lines around clouds is diverse, from threading to draping, and there is large variation in the magnetic curvature (κ) within cloud-background interfaces. We typically find little variation of κ between upstream and downstream cloud faces, implying that strongly draped configurations are rare. In addition, κ correlates strongly with multiple properties of the interface and the ambient background, including cloud overdensity and relative velocity, suggesting that cloud properties impact the topology of interface magnetic fields.

Modeling the Reverberation Response of the Broad-line Region in Active Galactic Nuclei

The variable continuum emission of an active galactic nucleus (AGN) produces corresponding responses in the broad emission lines, which are modulated by light travel delays, and contain information on the physical properties, structure, and kinematics of the emitting gas region. The reverberation mapping technique, a time series analysis of the driving light curve and response, can recover some of this information, including the size and velocity field of the broad-line region (BLR). Here we introduce a new forward-modeling tool, the Broad Emission Line MApping Code, which simulates the velocity-resolved reverberation response of the BLR to any given input light curve by setting up a 3D ensemble of gas clouds for various specified geometries, velocity fields, and cloud properties. In this work, we present numerical approximations to the transfer function by simulating the velocity-resolved responses to a single continuum pulse for sets of models representing a spherical BLR with a radiatively driven outflow and a disklike BLR with Keplerian rotation. We explore how the structure, velocity field, and other BLR properties affect the transfer function. We calculate the response-weighted time delay (reverberation “lag”), which is considered to be a proxy for the luminosity-weighted radius of the BLR. We investigate the effects of anisotropic cloud emission and matter-bounded (completely ionized) clouds and find the response-weighted delay is only equivalent to the luminosity-weighted radius when clouds emit isotropically and are radiation-bounded (partially ionized). Otherwise, the luminosity-weighted radius can be overestimated by up to a factor of 2.

Curves of growth for transiting exocomets: Application to Fe II lines in the β Pictoris system

Using transit spectroscopy, exocomets are routinely observed in the young planetary system of β Pic. However, despite more than 35 yr of observations, we still have very little information on the physical properties and almost no information on the abundances of the gaseous clouds surrounding the comets’ nuclei, the difficulty being the conversion of the observed absorption profiles into column density measurements. Here, we present a new method to interpret the exocomet absorptions observed in β Pic spectrum and link them to the physical properties of the transiting cometary tails (e.g. size, temperature, and column density). We show that the absorption depth of a comet in a set of lines arising from similar excitation levels of a given chemical species follows a simple curve as a function of g·f, where f is the line oscillator strength and g its lower level multiplicity. This curve is the analogue of the curve of growth for interstellar absorption lines, where equivalent widths are replaced by absorption depths. To fit this exocomet curve of growth, we introduced a model where the cometary absorption is produced by a homogeneous cloud, covering only a limited fraction of the stellar disc. This model is defined by two parameters: α, characterising the size of the cloud relative to the star, and β, related to the optical depth of the absorbing gas. This model was tested on two comets observed with the Hubble Space Telescope in December 1997 and October 2018, in a set of lines of ionised iron (Fe II) at 2750 Å. The measured absorption depths are found to satisfactory match the two-parameter curve of growth model, indicating that both comets cover roughly 40% of the stellar disc (α = 0.4) and have optical thicknesses close to unity in those lines (β ~ 1). Then, we show that if we consider a set of lines arising from a wider range of energy levels, the absorbing species seems to be populated at thermodynamical equilibrium, causing the cometary absorption to follow a curve of growth as a function of g f ⋅ e−El/kBT (where T is the temperature of the absorbing medium). For the comet observed on December 6, 1997, we derive a temperature of T = 10 500 ± 500 K and a total Fe II column density of NFeII = (1.11 ± 0.09) × 1015 cm−2. By considering the departure from the Boltzmann distribution of the highest excited energy levels (El ~ 25 000 cm−1), we also estimate an electronic density of ne ≈ (3 ± 1) × 107 cm−3.

Extinction along Sightlines Sampled by the APO Catalog of DIBs

Identification of molecular carriers for diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) may stem in part from the determination of interrelated lines using the Apache Point Observatory Catalog of DIBs. However, Pearson correlations may be impacted by the number of interstellar clouds along the sightlines. The trend of extinction with distance was constrained using Bayestar19 and Gaia DR3, and clouds were identified via step-functions and extended increasing linear progressions may be indicative of traversal through dense spiral arms. Thirteen sightlines are likely observed through more than one cloud. The hypergiants HD168625 and VI Cyg 12 are contaminated by local nebulosity and circumstellar disks. New findings presented here support the reddenings cited within the Apache Point Observatory catalog of DIBs.