A Study of Interstellar Carbonyl Sulfide,

Abstract

We have carried out a study of the carbonyl sulfide (OCS) molecule in 24 interstellar and circumstellar molecular clouds, and detected it in a total of 10 sources and 7 different transitions. Analysis of the data using hydrogen densities derived from a study of CS (Linke and Goldsmith 1980), and assuming that the OCS lines are optically thin, yields a mean column density <N(OCS)> = 3 x 10 to the 14th power/sq cm in ten interstellar clouds while the average fractional abundance <N(OCS)/N(H2)> = 1.6 x 10 to the minus 9th power, consistent with the theoretical prediction of Oppenheimer and Dalgarno (1974). The results of maps and analysis of multiple transitions in several sources suggest that the regions responsible for the OCS emission are only marginally resolved with a beamsize of approx. 2'. Direct measurements yield (OCS/O13CS) = 21 and (OCS/OC34S) = 16 in SGR B2, compared to terrestrial values of 89 and 23, respectively. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 23, 1980
Accession Number
ADA100866

Entities

People

  • Paul F. Goldsmith
  • Richard A. Linke

Organizations

  • University of Massachusetts Amherst

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Amplitude Modulation
  • Astronomy
  • Atmospheric Attenuation
  • Brightness
  • Calibration
  • Coefficients
  • Correlation Analysis
  • Detection
  • Frequency
  • Materials
  • Observation
  • Observatories
  • Radio Astronomy
  • Spectra
  • Spectral Lines
  • Universities

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Astronomy/Astrophysics
  • Molecular Photonics/Laser Physics

Technology Areas

  • Space