Rugel, M. R., Beuther, H., Bihr, S., Wang, Y., Ott, J., Brunthaler, A., Walsh, A., Glover, S. C. O., Goldsmith, P. F., Anderson, L. D., Schneider, N., Menten, K. M., Raganu, S. E., Urquhart, J. S., Klessen, R. S., Soler, J. D., Roy, N., Kainulainen, J., Henning, T., Bigiel, F., Smith, R. J., Wyrowski, F. and Longmore, S. N. (2018). OH absorption in the first quadrant of the Milky Way as seen by THOR. Astron. Astrophys., 618. LES ULIS CEDEX A: EDP SCIENCES S A. ISSN 1432-0746

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Abstract

Context. The hydroxyl radical (OH) is present in the diffuse molecular and partially atomic phases of the interstellar medium (ISM), but its abundance relative to hydrogen is not clear. Aims. We aim to evaluate the abundance of OH with respect to molecular hydrogen using OH absorption against cm-continuum sources over the first Galactic quadrant. Methods. This OH study is part of the HI/OH/Recombination line survey of the inner Milky Way (THOR). THOR is a Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) large program of atomic, molecular and ionized gas in the range 15 degrees <= l <= 67 degrees and vertical bar b vertical bar <= 1 degrees. It is the highest-resolution unbiased OH absorption survey to date towards this region. We combine the optical depths derived from these observations with literature (CO)-C-13(1-0) and HI observations to determine the OH abundance. Results. We detect absorption in the 1665 and 1667 MHz transitions, that is, the main hyperfine structure lines, for continuum sources stronger than F-cont >= 0.1 Jy beam(-1). OH absorption is found against approximately 15% of these continuum sources with increasing fractions for stronger sources. Most of the absorption occurs in molecular clouds that are associated with Galactic H II regions. We find OH and (CO)-C-13 gas to have similar kinematic properties. The data indicate that the OH abundance decreases with increasing hydrogen column density. The derived OH abundance with respect to the total hydrogen nuclei column density (atomic and molecular phase) is in agreement with a constant abundance for AV < 10 - 20. Towards the lowest column densities, we find sources that exhibit OH absorption but no (CO)-C-13 emission, indicating that OH is a well suited tracer of the low column density molecular gas. We also present spatially resolved OH absorption towards the prominent extended H II-region W43. Conclusions. The unbiased nature of the THOR survey opens a new window onto the gas properties of the interstellar medium. The characterization of the OH abundance over a large range of hydrogen gas column densities contributes to the understanding of OH as a molecular gas tracer and provides a starting point for future investigations.

Item Type: Journal Article
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCIDORCID Put Code
Rugel, M. R.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Beuther, H.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Bihr, S.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Wang, Y.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Ott, J.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Brunthaler, A.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Walsh, A.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Glover, S. C. O.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Goldsmith, P. F.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Anderson, L. D.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Schneider, N.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Menten, K. M.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Raganu, S. E.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Urquhart, J. S.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Klessen, R. S.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Soler, J. D.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Roy, N.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Kainulainen, J.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Henning, T.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Bigiel, F.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Smith, R. J.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Wyrowski, F.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Longmore, S. N.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
URN: urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-169097
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201731872
Journal or Publication Title: Astron. Astrophys.
Volume: 618
Date: 2018
Publisher: EDP SCIENCES S A
Place of Publication: LES ULIS CEDEX A
ISSN: 1432-0746
Language: English
Faculty: Unspecified
Divisions: Unspecified
Subjects: no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:
KeywordsLanguage
H II REGIONS; MOLECULAR CLOUDS; STAR-FORMATION; GROUND-STATE; DARK GAS; INTERSTELLAR; EMISSION; DUST; TRANSITIONS; CHEMISTRYMultiple languages
Astronomy & AstrophysicsMultiple languages
Refereed: Yes
URI: http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/16909

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