Abstract
Aims. We investigate the large-scale structure of the interstellar medium (ISM) around the massive star cluster RCW 38 in the [CII] 158 μm line and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission. Methods. We carried out [CII] line mapping of an area of ∼30′ × 15′ for RCW 38 by a Fabry-Perot spectrometer on a 100 cm balloon-borne telescope with an angular resolution of. We compared the [CII] intensity map with the PAH and dust emission maps obtained by the AKARI satellite. Results. The [CII] emission shows a highly nonuniform distribution around the cluster, exhibiting the structure widely extended to the north and the east from the center. The [CII] intensity rapidly drops toward the southwest direction, where a CO cloud appears to dominate. We decompose the 3-160 μm spectral energy distributions of the surrounding ISM structure into PAH as well as warm and cool dust components with the help of 2.5-5 μm spectra. Conclusions. We find that the [CII] emission spatially corresponds to the PAH emission better than to the dust emission, confirming the relative importance of PAHs for photo-electric heating of gas in photo-dissociation regions. A naive interpretation based on our observational results indicates that molecular clouds associated with RCW 38 are located both on the side of and behind the cluster.
Original language | English |
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Article number | A92 |
Journal | Astronomy and Astrophysics |
Volume | 556 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2013 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Dust, extinction
- ISM: clouds
- ISM: structure
- Infrared: ISM
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Space and Planetary Science