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THz Observations of the Cool Neutral Medium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 January 2013

John M. Dickey
John M. Dickey*
Affiliation:
University of Tasmania, School of Maths and Physics, Private Bag 37, Hobart, TAS 7001Australia email: [email protected]
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Abstract

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The astrophysical drivers for far-infrared spectroscopy of the Galactic interstellar medium using a 15m class telescope on Dome A are compelling. For the diffuse, atomic phase, the most important lines in the far-IR spectrum are OI at 63μm and CII at 158μm. These are the dominant cooling lines of the cool, neutral medium, and they show rich spectral structure in Herschel observations at low latitudes. But theory predicts that they should both be highly sub-thermal in excitation, so that the level populations are not in equilibrium with the kinetic temperature of the gas. A large single dish telescope or an interferometer may be able to study the absorption and emission to determine the optical depth and column density of atoms and the physical conditions in the emission regions. Comparison of Herschel CII spectra with 21-cm absorption spectra indicates that a significant fraction of the 158μm flux may be coming from the atomic rather than the molecular phase.

Keywords

line: profilesISM: cloudsISM: atomsISM: structureGalaxy: diskinfrared: ISM
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 8 , Symposium S288: Astrophysics from Antarctica , August 2012 , pp. 135 - 138
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2013

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