Year: 2005
Type: article
Abstract: Transient microstructure in the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) has been observed towards Galactic and extragalactic sources for decades, usually in lines of atoms and ions, and, more recently, in molecular lines. Evidently, there is a molecular component to the transient microstructure. In this paper, we explore the chemistry that may arise in such microstructure. We use a photodissociation region (PDR) code to model the conditions of relatively high density, low temperature, very low visual extinction and very short elapsed time that are appropriate for these objects. We find that there is a well-defined region of parameter space where detectable abundances of molecular species might be found. The best matching models are those where the interstellar microstructure is young (<100 yr), small (∼100 au) and dense (>104 cm−3).
Authors: T. A. Bell, S. Viti, D. A. Williams, I. A. Crawford, R. J. Price
Institutions: University College London, Birkbeck, University of London
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2018898027