strip scans with the lws through the rho ophiuchi main cloud (l 1688) are proposed. full grating scans at high s/n will simultaneously provide information on the physical state of the gas (spectral lines) and of the dust particles (continuum/solid state features) in each observed position. a wide range of excitation conditions are known to exist within the cloud, as seen in the extended emission of ionic fine structure transitions, e.g. c ii158 micron, and in that of low lying molecular rotational transitions such as cs (j=2-1). what regards the dust, several cold clumps, immersed in a warmer medium, have been observed in the submm/mm regime from the ground. in a recent study we have found that the gas and the dust appear not to be well mixed on scales of the order of 0.15 pc and the proposed lws observations will directly address this issue. the proposed strip scans will map the major star forming condensations found in the rho oph core. apparently, bodies of substellar mass (brown dwarfs.) are found near only two of them. in addition, an apparently inactive condensation will be observed. combined with the results from the isocam and isophot guaranteed and open time surveys for the stellar population of the cloud, these spectroscopic observations will map the physics of stellar formation at the r^ant frequencies in unprecedented detail.
Instrument
LWS01
Temporal Coverage
1997-02-12T15:56:13Z/1997-08-18T10:10:09Z
Version
1.0
Mission Description
The Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) was the worlds first true orbiting infrared observatory. Equipped with four highly-sophisticated and versatile scientific instruments, it was launched by Ariane in November 1995 and provided astronomers world-wide with a facility of unprecedented sensitivity and capabilities for a detailed exploration of the Universe at infrared wavelengths.
European Space Agency, LISEAU et al., 1999, 'SPECTROSCOPIC MAPPING OF THE RHO OPHIUCHI CLOUD THE GAS AND DUST COMPONENTS OF THE STAR FORMING CORE', 1.0, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-y7qqup3
