• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.97-103
• /
• 2002

We have mapped 1 $deg^2$ region toward a high latitude cloud MBM 40 in the J = 1 - 0 transition of $^{12}CO$ and $^{13}CO$, using the 3 mm SIS receiver on the 14 m telescope at Taeduk Radio Astronomy Observatory. We used a high resolution autocorrelator to resolve extremely narrow CO linewidths of the molecular gas. Though the linewidth of the molecular gas is very narrow (FWHP < 1 km $s^{-1}$ ), it is found that there is an evident velocity difference between the middle upper part and the lower part of the cloud. Their spectra for both of $^{12}CO$ and $^{13}CO$ show blue wings, and the position-velocity map shows clear velocity difference of 0.4 km $s^{-1}$ between two parts. The mean velocity of the cloud is 3.1 km $s^{-1}$. It is also found that the linewidths at the blueshifted region are broader than those of the rest of the cloud. We confirmed that the visual extinction is less than 3 magnitude, and the molecular gas is translucent. We discussed three mass estimates, and took a mass of 17 solar masses from CO integrated intensity using a conversion factor $2.3 {\times} 10^{20} cm^{-2} (K\;km s^{-1})^{-1}$. Spatial coincidence and close morphological similarity is found between the CO emission and dust far-infrared (FIR) emission. The ratio between the 100 f.Lm intensity and CO integrated intensity of MBM 40 is 0.7 (MJy/sr)/(K km $s^{-1}$), which is larger than those of dark clouds, but much smaller than those of GMCs. The low ratio found for MBM 40 probably results from the absence of internal heating sources, or significant nearby external heating sources.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.169-173
• /
• 2017

We provide a new physical insight on the hot molecular clouds near the nucleus of the obscured AGNs. We performed near-infrared spectroscopic observations of heavily obscured AGNs in order to reveal physical characteristics of molecular clouds, especially focused on the CO fundamental ro-vibrational absorption around $4.7{\mu}m$. We have made systematic moderate-resolution spectroscopic observations toward 30 representative (U)LIRGs using the AKARI/IRC, and some of the ULIRGs showed the strong CO absorption feature. For three bright (U)LIRGs that show a steep red continuum with the deep CO absorption feature, IRAS 08572+3915, UGC 05101, and IRAS 01250+2832, we have also made high-resolution spectroscopic observations using the Subaru/IRCS. We have successfully detected many absorption lines up to highly excited rotational levels, and these lines are very deep and extremely broad. The derived physical conditions of molecular clouds are extreme; the gas temperature is as high as several 100 to a 1000 K, the $H_2$ column density is larger than $10^{22}cm^{-2}$, and the gas density is greater than $10^7cm^{-3}$. Such hot and dense molecular clouds must exist around the central engine of the AGN.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.281-283
• /
• 2001

As a companion to an adiabatic version developed by Ryu and his coworkers, we have built an isothermal magnetohydrodynamic code for astrophysical flows. It is suited for the dynamical simulations of flows where cooling timescale is much shorter than dynamical timescale, as well as for turbulence and dynamo simulations in which detailed energetics are unimportant. Since a simple isothermal equation of state substitutes the energy conservation equation, the numerical schemes for isothermal flows are simpler (no contact discontinuity) than those for adiabatic flows and the resulting code is faster. Tests for shock tubes and Alfven wave decay have shown that our isothermal code has not only a good shock capturing ability, but also numerical dissipation smaller than its adiabatic analogue. As a real astrophysical application of the code, we have simulated the nonlinear three-dimensional evolution of the Parker instability. A factor of two enhancement in vertical column density has been achieved at most, and the main structures formed are sheet-like and aligned with the mean field direction. We conclude that the Parker instability alone is not a viable formation mechanism of the giant molecular clouds.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.48 no.2
• /
• pp.139-154
• /
• 2015

We carry out three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of the supernova remnants (SNRs) produced inside molecular clouds (MCs) near their surface using the HLL code (Harten et al. 1983). We explore the dynamical evolution and the X-ray morphology of SNRs after breaking through the MC surface for ranges of the explosion depths below the surface and the density ratios of the clouds to the intercloud media (ICM). We find that if an SNR breaks out through an MC surface in its Sedov stage, the outermost dense shell of the remnant is divided into several layers. The divided layers are subject to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability and fragmented. On the other hand, if an SNR breaks through an MC after the remnant enters the snowplow phase, the radiative shell is not divided to layers. We also compare the predictions of previous analytic solutions for the expansion of SNRs in stratified media with our onedimensional simulations. Moreover, we produce synthetic X-ray surface brightness in order to research the center-bright X-ray morphology shown in thermal composite SNRs. In the late stages, a breakout SNR shows the center-bright X-ray morphology inside an MC in our results. We apply our model to the observational results of the X-ray morphology of the thermal composite SNR 3C 391.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.402-410
• /
• 2011

We present results of CO observations toward an infrared (IR) source, IRAS 07280-1829, and its possibly related molecular clouds. The physical parameters of this IR source such as its infrared slope (${\alpha}$=16) of the Spectral Energy Distribution and bolometric temperature (145 K) indicate that it is an embedded protostar. Its luminosity is ${\sim}2.9{\times}10^4L_{\odot}$, typical of a massive star. The CO profile toward IRAS 07280-1829 has broad wing components, implying a possible existence of CO outflow. The excitation temperature and mass of a molecular cloud (Cloud A) which is thought to harbor the IR source are estimated to be 9~22 K and ~180 $M_{\odot}$, respectively, indicating the Cloud A is a typical infrared-dark cloud. Its LTE mass is found to be much smaller than its virial mass by more than a factor of 10 which is inconsistent with the fact that a protostar recently formed exists in the Cloud A. This may suggest that the environment of the cloud where the IR source is forming is dominant of turbulence and/or magnetic filed, making its virial mass estimated unusually high.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.20 no.1 s.24
• /
• pp.7-10
• /
• 2005

We have calculated 2448 interstellar cloud models to investigate the formation and destruction of high rotational level $H_2$ according to the combinations of five physical conditions: the input UV intensity, the $H_2$ column density, cloud temperature, total density, and the $H_2$ formation rate efficiency. The models include the populations of all the accessible states of $H_2$ with the rotational quantum number J < 16 as a function of depth through the model clouds, and assume that the abundance of $H_2$ is in a steady state governed primarily by the rate of formation on the grain surfaces and the rates of destruction by spontaneous fluorescent dissociation following absorption in the Lyman and Werner band systems. The high rotational levels J = 4 and J = 5 are both populated by direct formation into these levels of newly created molecules, and by pumping from J = 0 and J = 1, respectively The model results show that the high rotational level ratio N(4)/N(0) is proportional to the incident UV intensity, and is inversely proportional to the $H_2$ molecular fraction, as predicted in theory.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.295-296
• /
• 2012

We provide a new physical insight on the hot molecular clouds near the nucleus of the heavily obscured AGN IRAS 01250+2832, based on the results of near-infrared high-resolution spectroscopy of gaseous CO ro-vibrational absorption lines with Subaru/IRCS. The detected CO absorption lines up to highly excited rotational levels reveal that hot dense molecular clouds exist around the AGN under the peculiar physical conditions.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.40 no.4
• /
• pp.119-122
• /
• 2007

From the HCN observations of dense molecular cloud L694-2, Lee et al.(2007) determined internal distributions of density and velocity for the cloud. The density profile collaborates roughly with the Bonnor- Ebert gas sphere, but the velocity field departs significantly from the result of numerical simulations that are started from the BE sphere. Taking L694-2 as an example of collapsing clouds, we have performed a series of collapse simulations and determined initial configurations for the cloud in such a way that the resulting density and velocity profiles both match with the empirically deduced ones. Among many trial configurations the cloud which is initially uniform in density and bound by an expanding envelop depicts most closely the empirically obtained profiles of both density and velocity.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.46 no.1
• /
• pp.50.2-51
• /
• 2021

Stars form exclusively in cold and dense molecular clouds. To fully understand star formation processes, it is hence a key to investigate how molecular clouds form out of the surrounding diffuse atomic gas. With an aim of shedding light in the process of the atomic-to-molecular transition in the interstellar medium, we analyze Arecibo HI emission and absorption spectral pairs along with TRAO/PMO 12CO(1-0) emission spectra toward 58 lines of sight probing in and around molecular clouds in the solar neighborhood, i.e., Perseus, Taurus, and California. 12CO(1-0) is detected from 19 out of 58 lines of sight, and we report the physical properties of HI (e.g., central velocity, spin temperature, and column density) in the vicinity of CO. Our preliminary results show that the velocity difference between the cold HI (Cold Neutral Medium or CNM) and CO (median ~ 0.7 km/s) is on average more than a factor of two smaller than the velocity difference between the warm HI (Warm Neutral Medium or WNM) and CO (median ~ 1.7 km/s). In addition, we find that the CNM tends to become colder (median spin temperature ~ 43 K) and abundant (median CNM fraction ~ 0.55) as it gets closer to CO. These results hints at the evolution of the CNM in the vicinity of CO, implying a close association between the CNM and molecular gas. Finally, in order to examine the role of HI in the formation of molecular gas, we compare the observed CNM properties to the theoretical model by Bialy & Sternberg (2016), where the HI column density for the HI-to-H2 transition point is predicted as a function of density, metallicity, and UV radiation field. Our comparison shows that while the model reproduces the observations reasonably well on average, the observed CNM components with high column densities are much denser than the model prediction. Several sources of this discrepancy, e.g., missing physical and chemical ingredients in the model such as the multi-phase ISM, non-equilibrium chemistry, and turbulence, will be discussed.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.20 no.1 s.24
• /
• pp.11-20
• /
• 2005

We present measurements of interstellar $H_2$ absorption lines in the continuum spectra of 54 early-type stars in the Galactic disk and halo and 3 stars in the Magellanic Clouds. The data were obtained with the Berkeley Extreme and Far-Ultraviolet Spectrometer (BEFS), part of the ORFEUS telescope, which flew on the ORFEUS-SPAS I and II space-shuttle missions in 1993 and 1996, respectively. The spectra extend from the interstellar cutoff at $912{\AA}$ to about $1200{\AA}$ with a spectral resolution of ${\sim}3000$ and statistical signal-to-noise ratios between 10 and 65. Assuming a velocity profile derived from optical observations (when available), we model the column densities N(J) of the rotational levels J = 0 through 5 for each line of sight. Our data reproduce the relationships among molecular and total hydrogen column density, fractional molecular abundance, and reddening first seen in Copernicusobservations of nearby stars (Savage et al. 1977). The results show that most of these molecular clouds have $H_2$ total column densities between $10^{15}cm^{-2}$ and $10^{21}cm^{-2}$, and kinetic temperatures from 21 K to 232 K, with average of 89 K, consistent with the result of Copernicus (Savage et al. 1977).