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Author: Benjamin J. McCall
Email: bjmccall@astro.berkeley.edu Home Page: http://astro.berkeley.edu/~bjmccall Other information: Abstract:
The long awaited initial detection (b) of H3+ in
the interstellar medium provides unprecedented opportunites to directly
characterize the physical and chemical properties of dense molecular clouds
near young stellar objects. Recent observations in the 3.7 um region using
the CGS4 infrared spectrometer at the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope and
the high-resolution Phoenix spectrometer at the Kitt Peak National
Observatory support the initial detection of H3+
and extend the use of H3+ as a chemical probe of
the interstellar medium to other molecular clouds. The interstellar material
towards many winter objects -- GL961E, MonR2 IRS 2 and IRS 3, GL490,
GL989, NGC 2024 IRS 2, LkHa 101, W3 IRS 5, and Orion BN -- have been
searched in the spectral region of H3+, providing both
positive (detection) and negative (upper limit) results. In addition,
the data from the initial detection of H3+ in
the summer objects GL2136 and W33A have been reprocessed to improve
the resolution of the spectral lines.
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