Molecular Hydrogen Clouds Research Articles

Ionized carbon as a tracer of the assembly of interstellar clouds

Molecular hydrogen clouds are a key component of the interstellar medium because they are the birthplaces for stars. They are embedded in atomic gas that pervades the interstellar space. However, the details of how molecular clouds assemble from and interact with the atomic gas are still largely unknown. As a result of new observations of the 158 μm line of ionized carbon [CII] in the Cygnus region within the FEEDBACK program on SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy), we present compelling evidence that [CII] unveils dynamic interactions between cloud ensembles. This process is neither a head-on collision of fully molecular clouds nor a gentle merging of only atomic clouds. Moreover, we demonstrate that the dense molecular clouds associated with the DR21 and W75N star-forming regions and a cloud at higher velocity are embedded in atomic gas, and all components interact over a large range of velocities (roughly 20 km s−1). The atomic gas has a density of around 100 cm−3 and a temperature of roughly 100 K. We conclude that the [CII] 158 μm line is an excellent tracer to witness the processes involved in cloud interactions and anticipate further detections of this phenomenon in other regions.

Virial clouds and rotational asymmetry in galactic haloes

In 1995, it was suggested that some of the baryonic dark matter in galaxies may be in the form of molecular hydrogen clouds, and a mechanism for observing them had been given. In the same year, a novel method of seeing the clouds was proposed, that is to look for a temperature asymmetry in the cosmic microwave background towards the M31 galaxy, due to a “Doppler effect” induced by the M31 halo rotation. This temperature asymmetry has since been seen and confirmed in M31 and other galaxies, and used to study the rotation of galactic haloes and map their dynamics. It had been questioned whether such clouds could actually exist, and in response, the clouds were modeled and shown to be possible. It then becomes necessary to trace the evolution of those clouds from their formation to the modern day. Here, the development of the ideas is reviewed.

Interfaces and mixing: Nonequilibrium transport across the scales

Interfacial transport and mixing are nonequilibrium processes coupling kinetic to meso- and macroscopic dynamics. These processes play an essential role in fluids, plasmas, and materials, from celestial to atomic events. Addressing the societal challenges posed by alternative energy sources, efficient use of nonrenewable resources, and purification of water requires an improved understanding of the nonequilibrium dynamics, interfacial transport, and mixing. This special feature issue builds upon recent achievements in understanding interfacial transport and mixing using theoretical analysis, large-scale numerical simulations, laboratory experiments, and technology developments. It brings together works in fluid dynamics, plasmas, applied mathematics, chemistry, material science, geophysics, and astrophysics. This collection of papers explores the state of the art in areas of interfaces and nonequilibrium transport and suggests future research directions in the field. This special feature issue of PNAS presents a number of outstanding contributions in “Interfaces and mixing: Nonequilibrium transport across the scales.” This issue is associated with the symposium on “Interfaces and Mixing” invited by the US National Academy of Sciences in 2017 and is a part of the program “Turbulent Mixing and Beyond” founded in 2007 with the support of the international scientific community and national and international funding agencies and institutions (1⇓⇓⇓⇓–6). This issue, the symposium, and the program bring together researchers from many areas of science, mathematics, and engineering and focus their attention on fundamental problems of interfaces, mixing, and nonequilibrium dynamics (1⇓⇓⇓⇓–6). Interfaces, mixing, and nonequilibrium dynamics govern a broad range of phenomena in nature and technology, in high- and low-energy density regimes, at astrophysical and at atomic scales (1⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓–19). Examples include supernovas, molecular hydrogen clouds, and accretion … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: snezhana.abarzhi{at}gmail.com. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1

Recent results and perspectives on cosmic backgrounds from radio to far-infrared

Cosmological and astrophysical surveys from radio to far-infrared, in both temperature and polarization, offer a unique view of the universe properties and of the formation and evolution of its structures. The last release, close to be finalized, of the Planck mission results sets the scene for cosmological models and parameters, while the comparison with other types of data sets raises the issue of possible tensions about some parameters, first of all the Hubble constant. At the same time, on the extragalactic side, Planck carried out the deepest systematic all-sky survey of SZ galaxy clusters and detected thousands of dusty galaxies and many hundreds of extragalactic radio sources, also allowing us to investigate many specific topics, including molecular hydrogen clouds in galactic halos. The exploitation of future generation of CMB missions and the next radio facilities will allow us to deeply investigate several topics in cosmology and astrophysics, from the existence of primordial gravitational waves to the energy releases in the primeval plasma, from the dawn ages and the epoch of reionization to the formation and evolution of early galaxies and clusters, while a wide set of open astrophysical problems can be studied with future IR missions.

Virial clouds explaining the observed rotational asymmetry in the galactic halos

Rotation of galactic objects has been seen in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) that could be ascribed to molecular hydrogen clouds with, or without, dust contamination and contamination from other sources. We model the clouds using the canonical ensemble for pure molecular hydrogen, a mixture of hydrogen helium and/or dust, in order to constrain the physical parameters of these clouds. Since the clouds are cold, we justify the use of the canonical ensemble by explicitly calculating the interaction between the hydrogen molecules and the CMB photons and determining the time required for thermal equilibrium to be reached and show that there is enough time for equilibrium to be attained.

Cosmic Snow Clouds: Self-gravitating Gas Spheres Manifesting Hydrogen Condensation

Abstract We present hydrostatic equilibrium models of spherical, self-gravitating clouds of helium and molecular hydrogen, focusing on the cold, high-density regime where solid- or liquid-hydrogen can form. The resulting structures have masses from 0.1 M ⊙ down to several ×10−8 M ⊙, and span a broad range of radii: 10−4 ≲ R(au) ≲ 107. Our models are fully convective, but all have a two-zone character with the majority of the mass in a small, condensate-free core, surrounded by a colder envelope where phase equilibrium obtains. Convection in the envelope is unusual in that it is driven by a mean-molecular-weight inversion, rather than by an entropy gradient. In fact, the entropy gradient is itself inverted, leading to the surprising result that envelope convection transports heat inward. In turn, that permits the outer layers to maintain steady-state temperatures below the cosmic microwave background. Among our hydrostatic equilibria we identify thermal equilibria appropriate to the Galaxy, in which radiative cooling from H2 is balanced by cosmic-ray heating. These equilibria are all thermally unstable, albeit with very long thermal timescales in some cases. The specific luminosities of all our models are very low, and they therefore describe a type of baryonic dark matter. Consequently such clouds are thermally fragile: when placed in a harsh radiation field, they will be unable to cool effectively and disruption will ensue as heat input drives a secular expansion. Disrupting clouds should leave trails of gas and H2 dust in their wake, which might make them easier to detect. Our models may be relevant to the cometary globules in the Helix Nebula and the G2 cloud orbiting Sgr A*.

A PERFECT STARBURST CLUSTER MADE IN ONE GO: THE NGC 3603 YOUNG CLUSTER

Understanding how distinct, near-spherical gas-free clusters of very young, massive stars shape out of vast, complex clouds of molecular hydrogen is one of the biggest challenges in astrophysics. A popular thought dictates that a single gas cloud fragments into many new-born stars which, in turn, energize and rapidly expel the residual gas to form a gas-free cluster. This study demonstrates that the above classical paradigm remarkably reproduces the well-observed central, young cluster (HD 97950) of the Galactic NGC 3603 star-forming region, in particular, its shape, internal motion and the mass distribution of stars, naturally and consistently follow from a single model calculation. Remarkably, the same parameters (star formation efficiency, gas expulsion time scale and delay) reproduce HD 97950 as were found to reproduce the Orion Nebula Cluster, Pleiades and R136. The present results thereby provide intriguing evidences of formation of star clusters through single-starburst events followed by significant residual gas expulsion.

AHerschel[C ii] Galactic plane survey

Context. H i and CO large scale surveys of the Milky Way trace the diffuse atomic clouds and the dense shielded regions of molecular hydrogen clouds, respectively. However, until recently, we have not had spectrally resolved C+ surveys in sufficient lines of sight to characterize the ionized and photon dominated components of the interstellar medium, in particular, the H2 gas without CO, referred to as CO-dark H2, in a large sample of interstellar clouds.

Multi-band Observation of TeV Supernova Remnants

AbstractWe study several TeV Supernova Remnants (SNRs W51C, CTB 37A, CTB 37B and G353.6-0.7) by radio and X-ray observations. We utilize neutral hydrogen (\HI) 21 cm line data to measure their kinematic distances, and use the CO line survey sensitive to molecular hydrogen clouds to validate these distance measurements and understand their relation to the TeV SNRs. Our study show that the TeV γ-ray emission from W51C should not be associated with the high-velocity HI clouds; CTB 37A and CTB 37B are at different distances and are only by chance nearby each other on the sky; the extended TeV emission from G353.6-0.7 possibly originates from the interaction between the SNR shock and the adjacent CO clouds.

Insights on molecular cloud structure

AbstractStars form in the densest regions of clouds of cold molecular hydrogen. Measuring structure in these clouds is far from trivial as 99% of the mass of a molecular cloud is inaccessible to direct observation. Over the last decade we have been developing an alternative, more robust density tracer technique based on dust extinction measurements towards background starlight. The new technique does not suffer from the complications plaguing the more conventional molecular line and dust emission techniques, and when used with these can provide unique views on cloud chemistry and dust grain properties in molecular clouds. In this brief communication we summarize the main results achieved so far using this technique.

Directional radiation and photodissociation regions in molecular hydrogen clouds

Some astrophysical observations of molecular hydrogen point to a broadening of the velocity distribution for molecules at excited rotational levels. This effect is observed in both Galactic and high-redshift clouds. Analysis of H2, HD, and CI absorption lines has revealed the broadening effect in the absorption system of QSO 1232+082 (zabs = 2.33771). We analyze line broadening mechanisms by considering in detail the transfer of ultraviolet radiation (in the resonance lines of the Lyman and Werner H2 molecular bands) for various velocity distributions at excited rotational levels. The mechanism we suggest includes the saturation of the lines that populate excited rotational levels (radiative pumping) and manifests itself most clearly in the case of directional radiation in the medium. Based on the calculated structure of a molecular hydrogen cloud in rotational level populations, we have considered an additional mechanism that takes into account the presence of a photodissociation region. Note that disregarding the broadening effects we investigated can lead to a significant systematic error when the data are processed.

Obtaining the diffusion coefficient for cosmic ray propagation in the Galactic Centre Ridge through time-dependent simulations of their γ-ray emission

Recent observations by the H.E.S.S. collaboration of the Galactic Centre region have revealed what appears to be γ-ray emission from the decay of pions produced by interactions of recently accelerated cosmic rays with local molecular hydrogen clouds. Synthesizing a 3D hydrogen cloud map from the available data and assuming a diffusion coefficient of the form κ( E) = κ 0( E/ E 0) δ , we performed Monte Carlo simulations of cosmic ray diffusion for various propagation times and values of κ 0 and δ. By fitting the model γ-ray spectra to the observed one we were able to infer the value of the diffusion coefficient in that environment ( κ = 3.0 ± 0.2 kpc 2 Myr −1 for E = 10 12.5 eV and for total propagation time 10 4 yr) as well as the source spectrum (2.1 ⩽ γ ⩽ 2.3). Also, we found that proton losses can be substantial, which justifies our approach to the problem.

Does transparent hidden matter generate optical scintillation?

Stars twinkle because their light goes through the atmosphere. The same phenomenon is expected when the light of extra-galactic stars goes through a Galactic - disk or halo - refractive medium. Because of the large distances involved here, the length and time scales of the optical intensity fluctuations resulting from the wave distortions are accessible to current technology. In this paper, we discuss the different possible scintillation regimes and we focus on the so-called strong diffractive regime that is likely to produce large intensity contrasts. The critical relationship between the source angular size and the inten- sity contrast in optical wavelengths is also discussed in detail. We propose to monitor small extra-galactic stars every ∼10 s to search for intensity scintillation produced by molecular hydrogen clouds. We discuss means to discriminate such hidden matter signals from the foreground effects on light propagation. Appropriate observation of the scintillation process described here should allow one to detect column density stochastic variations in Galactic molecular clouds of the order of ∼3 × 10 −5 g/cm 2 , that is 10 19 molecules/cm 2 per ∼10 000 km transverse distance.

Detection of molecular hydrogen atz = 1.15 toward HE 0515–4414

A new molecular hydrogen cloud is found in the sub-damped Lyα absorber [ () = ] at the redshift zabs = 1.15 toward the bright quasar HE 0515–4414 (zem = 1.71). More than 30 absorption features in the Lyman band system of H2 are identified in the UV spectrum of this quasar obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. The H2-bearing cloud shows a total H2 column density N(H2) cm-2 and a fractional molecular abundance derived from the H2 lines arising from the rotational levels of the ground electronic vibrational state. The estimated rate of photodissociation at the cloud edge s-1 is much higher than the mean Galactic disk value, s-1. This may indicate an enhanced star-formation activity in the system as compared with molecular clouds at where . We also find a tentative evidence that the formation rate coefficient of H2 upon grain surfaces at is a factor of 10 larger than a canonical Milky Way value, cm3 s-1. The relative dust-to-gas ratio estimated from the [Cr/Zn] ratio is equal to (in units of the mean Galactic disk value), which is in good agreement with a high molecular fraction in this system. The estimated line-of-sight size of pc may imply that the H2 is confined within small and dense filaments embedded in a more rarefied gas giving rise to the sub-damped Lyα absorber.

A 3 Year Long Extreme Scattering Event in the Direction of the Millisecond Pulsar J1643−1224

An extreme scattering event (ESE) has been detected in the direction of the millisecond pulsar J1643-1224 at 1.28 and 1.41 GHz. Its duration is 3 years and this makes it the longest ESE ever recorded. We have used the standard model of a purely refractive lens to interpret the observed radio light curves. This lens is a fully ionized cloud crossing the line of sight. We have found that our data imply that its transverse size is 56 AU, which is much larger than ~1 AU typical of the other ESEs in the direction of the pulsar B1937+21. If the cloud is located at the mid-distance to J1643-1224 (2500 pc), its electron density is 130 e cm-3. Such a highly pressurized structure has a short lifetime (29 yr), and this requires a replenishment mechanism at work in the interstellar medium that is unidentified at present. Alternative models are filamentary clouds seen through their long axis or a cold molecular hydrogen cloud with an ionized shell, as proposed by Walker & Wardle.

A Survey for High-Latitude Molecular Clouds toward Infrared-Excess Clouds with NANTEN

Abstract A survey for high Galactic latitude molecular clouds was carried out toward the far-infrared-excess clouds of Reach et al. (1998, AAA 070.131.207) using the NANTEN telescope. All 68 infrared-excess clouds that are observable from NANTEN were mapped in the $J = 1 \hbox{--} 0$ line of 12CO. CO emission was detected from 32 infrared excess clouds, corresponding to a CO detection rate of 47%. Most of these CO clouds were identified and mapped as high-latitude clouds for the first time. The CO detection rate for the cold ($T_\mathrm{dust} \lt 17 \,\mathrm{K}$) infrared excess clouds is 72%, which is more than a factor of two higher than that of warmer ones, 33%. This indicates that the cold clouds are well shielded from external UV radiation, resulting in a high CO abundance and a low temperature of the clouds. The infrared-excess clouds with no CO emission are most likely to be molecular hydrogen clouds because the temperature is similar to, or lower than, that of the surrounding H i gas. The molecular gas without CO emission seems to occupy more than 90% of the area of the infrared-excess clouds.

A massive cloud of cold atomic hydrogen in the outer Galaxy.

A large fraction of the mass of the interstellar medium in our Galaxy is in the form of warm (103-104 K) and cool (50-100 K) atomic hydrogen (H i) gas. Cold (10-30 K) regions are thought to be dominated by dense clouds of molecular hydrogen. Cold H i is difficult to observe, and therefore our knowledge of its abundance and distribution in the interstellar medium is poor. The few known clouds of cold H i are much smaller in size and mass than typical molecular clouds. Here we report the discovery that the H i supershell GSH139-03-69 is very cold (10 K). It is about 2 kiloparsecs in size and as massive as the largest molecular complexes. The existence of such an immense structure composed of cold atomic hydrogen in the interstellar medium runs counter to the prevailing view that cold gas resides almost exclusively in clouds dominated by molecular hydrogen.

Thermal Stability of Cold Clouds in Galaxy Halos

We consider the thermal properties of cold, dense clouds of molecular hydrogen and atomic helium. For cloud masses below 10-1.7 M middle dot in circle, the internal pressure is sufficient to permit the existence of particles of solid or liquid hydrogen at temperatures above the cosmic microwave background temperature. Optically thin thermal continuum emission by these particles can balance cosmic-ray heating of the cloud, leading to equilibria that are thermally stable even though the heating rate is independent of cloud temperature. For the Galaxy, the known heating rate in the disk sets a minimum mass of order 10-6 M middle dot in circle necessary for survival. Clouds of this type may in principle comprise most of the dark matter in the Galactic halo. However, we caution that the equilibria do not exist at redshifts z greater, similar1 when the temperature of the microwave background was substantially larger than its current value; therefore, the formation and the survival of such clouds to the present epoch remain open questions.

Carbon monoxide emission as a precise tracer of molecular gas in the Andromeda galaxy

Stars are known to form in clouds of cold molecular hydrogen, which are relatively poorly understood despite being one of the main components of the interstellar medium. The problem is that H2 is invisible in the cold interstellar medium, so its distribution and motion must be inferred from observations of minor constituents of the clouds, such as carbon monoxide and dust. Most of our present knowledge comes from observations of CO emission, but there is much debate on whether this is an effective tracer of H2: it might miss a large fraction of the molecular gas1. It is difficult to address this question on the basis of observations within the Milky Way alone, whose edge-on orientation makes it hard to discern the distant cloud structures. We have therefore surveyed the CO emission of the molecular clouds of M31 (the Andromeda galaxy), the nearest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way, and investigated the extent to which it follows the extinction of starlight by dust. We find a remarkably tight association between the CO emission and the dust, from which we conclude that CO does indeed trace all of the molecular gas.

Constraints on molecular gas in cooling flows and powerful radio galaxies

We searched for molecular gas in a heterogeneous sample of five radio-loud galaxies (three of which are inferred to be in cooling flow clusters) using the Swedish-European Southern Observatory (Swedish-ESO) Submillimeter Telescope. We do not detect CO in emission in any of the cluster sources at a 3 sigma level of typically 15 mK. White et al. (1991) have suggested column densities of N(sub H) approximately 10(exp 21)/sq cm in these clusters with a spatial covering factor of order unity and a total mass of M approximately 10(exp 12) solar mass. Our limits are inconsistent with these column densities and spatial covering factor unless the molecular gas is very cold (kinetic temperature close to 2.7 K) or there only a few clouds along each line of sight. We estimate minimum temperatures in the range approximately 20-30 K. We find that clouds of atomic and molecular hydrogen require strict fine-tuning of parameter space in order to satisfy the requirements for the large column densities N(sub H) approximately 10(exp 21)/sq cm, unit covering factor, and a small number of clouds along the line of sight. Currently the only way molecular gas can be responsible for the X-ray absorption and still be consistent with our observations is if (1) there is of order one cloud along the line of sight and (2) the optical depth in C-12 1 to 0 is less than 10. In addition, we present a Very Large Array (VLA) image of NGC 4696 which suggests this object is a member of the class of 'amorphous cooling flow radio sources.' The C-12 1 to 0 line is detected in emission in PKS 0634-206, a classical double radio galaxy which is rich in extended optical emission line gas. The estimated molecular gas mass is M(sub mol) approximately 3 x 10(exp 9) solar mass and is much larger than that of the ionized component detected in hydrogen alpha suggesting that the emission-line nebula is radiation bounded.