Hostname: page-component-cc8bf7c57-qfg88 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-11T06:01:35.709Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Optical and ultraviolet observations of diffuse interstellar clouds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2016

David M. Meyer
David M. Meyer*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Absorption-line studies of diffuse interstellar clouds have recently been invigorated at ultraviolet wavelengths with the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS) on the Hubble Space Telescope and at optical wavelengths with efficient high resolution spectrographs and CCD detectors. These instruments have made it possible to explore new regimes in determining the atomic and molecular abundances of diffuse clouds and tracing the velocity structure of interstellar lines. In the case of the atomic gas, the abundances of elements as diverse as oxygen and krypton have been accurately measured with GHRS and are consistent with a local ISM whose metallicity is about 2/3 that of the Sun. GHRS has also provided new insight on molecular processes in diffuse clouds through observations of CO, C2, HCl, and vibrationally-excited H2. With velocity resolutions of 0.3 km s−1 now attainable, optical spectra of species like CH, CH+, and CN are beginning to probe the physical characteristics of diffuse clouds in detail. Similar spectra of interstellar Na I toward resolvable binary star systems have recently revealed a rich variety of small-scale structure in the cold diffuse gas.

Type
Diffuse and Translucent Clouds
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 178: Molecules in Astrophysics: Probes and Processes , 1997 , pp. 407 - 420
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer 1997 

References

Anders, E., Grevesse, N. 1989, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta., 53, 197.Google Scholar
Cardelli, J.A., Meyer, D.M. 1996, in preparation.Google Scholar
Cardelli, J.A., Meyer, D.M., Jura, M., Savage, B.D. 1996, ApJ, 467, 334.Google Scholar
Cowie, L.L., Songaila, A. 1986, ARAA, 24, 499.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crane, P., Lambert, D.L., Sheffer, Y. 1995, ApJS, 99, 107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crawford, I.A. 1995, MNRAS, 277, 458.Google Scholar
Diamond, P.J., Goss, W.M., Romney, J.D., Booth, R.S., Kalberla, P.M.W., Mebold, U. 1989, ApJ, 347, 302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diego, F., et al. 1995, MNRAS, 272, 323.Google Scholar
Dieter, N.H., Welch, W.J., Romney, J.D. 1976, ApJ, 206, L113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Federman, S.R. 1996, private communication.Google Scholar
Federman, S.R., Cardelli, J.A., Sheffer, Y., Lambert, D.L., Morton, D.C. 1994, ApJ, 432, L139.Google Scholar
Federman, S.R., Cardelli, J.A., van Dishoeck, E.F., Lambert, D.L., Black, J.H. 1995, ApJ, 445, 325.Google Scholar
Felenbok, P., Roueff, E. 1996, ApJ, 465, L57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frail, D.A., Weisberg, J.M., Cordes, J.M., Mathers, C. 1994, ApJ, 436, 144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grevesse, N., Noels, A. 1993, in Origin of the Elements, ed. Prantzos, N., et al. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge), p. 15.Google Scholar
Haffner, L.M., Meyer, D.M. 1995, ApJ, 453, 450.Google Scholar
Heap, S.R., et al. 1995, PASP, 107, 871.Google Scholar
Herbig, G.H. 1995, ARAA, 33, 19.Google Scholar
Lambert, D.L., Sheffer, Y., Federman, S.R. 1995, ApJ, 438, 740.Google Scholar
Lambert, D.L., Sheffer, Y., Gilliland, R.L., Federman, S.R. 1994, ApJ, 420, 756.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meyer, D.M. 1990, in CCDs in Astronomy, ed. Jacoby, G.H. (ASP, San Francisco), p. 345.Google Scholar
Meyer, D.M., Blades, J.C. 1996, ApJ, 464, L179.Google Scholar
Meyer, D.M., Hawkins, I., Wright, E.L. 1993, ApJ, 409, L61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meyer, D.M., Jura, M., Cardelli, J.A. 1996, in preparation.Google Scholar
Meyer, D.M., Roth, K.C. 1991, ApJ, 376, L49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roth, K.C., Blades, J.C. 1995, ApJ, 445, L95.Google Scholar
Savage, B.D., Sembach, K.R. 1996, ARAA, 34, 279.Google Scholar
Sofia, U.J., Cardelli, J.A., Savage, B.D. 1994, ApJ, 430, 650.Google Scholar
van Dishoeck, E.F. 1992, in Astrochemistry of Cosmic Phenomena, IAU Symposium 150, ed. Singh, P.D. (Kluwer, Dordrecht), p. 143.Google Scholar
van Dishoeck, E.F., Black, J.H. 1986a, ApJS, 62, 109.Google Scholar
van Dishoeck, E.F., Black, J.H. 1986b, ApJ, 307, 332.Google Scholar
van Dishoeck, E.F., Black, J.H. 1989, ApJ, 340, 273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, J.K., Meyer, D.M. 1996, in preparation.Google Scholar
Wilson, T.L., Rood, R.T. 1994, ARAA, 32, 191.Google Scholar