TY - JOUR
T1 - First detection of HCO+ absorption in the magellanic system
AU - Murray, Claire E.
AU - Stanimirović, Snežana
AU - McClure-Griffiths, N. M.
AU - Putman, M. E.
AU - Liszt, H. S.
AU - Wong, Tony
AU - Richter, P.
AU - Dawson, J. R.
AU - Dickey, John M.
AU - Lindner, Robert R.
AU - Babler, Brian L.
AU - Allison, J. R.
PY - 2015/7/20
Y1 - 2015/7/20
N2 - We present the first detection of HCO+ absorption in the Magellanic System. Using the ATCA, we observed nine extragalactic radio continuum sources behind the Magellanic System and detected HCO+ absorption toward one source located behind the leading edge of the Magellanic Bridge. The detection is located at an LSR velocity of , with an FWHM of , and an optical depth of . Although there is abundant neutral hydrogen (H i) surrounding the sight line in position-velocity space, at the exact location of the absorber the H i column density is low, , and there is little evidence for dust or CO emission from Planck observations. While the origin and survival of molecules in such a diffuse environment remain unclear, dynamical events such as H i flows and cloud collisions in this interacting system likely play an important role.
AB - We present the first detection of HCO+ absorption in the Magellanic System. Using the ATCA, we observed nine extragalactic radio continuum sources behind the Magellanic System and detected HCO+ absorption toward one source located behind the leading edge of the Magellanic Bridge. The detection is located at an LSR velocity of , with an FWHM of , and an optical depth of . Although there is abundant neutral hydrogen (H i) surrounding the sight line in position-velocity space, at the exact location of the absorber the H i column density is low, , and there is little evidence for dust or CO emission from Planck observations. While the origin and survival of molecules in such a diffuse environment remain unclear, dynamical events such as H i flows and cloud collisions in this interacting system likely play an important role.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84940371187&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1088/0004-637X/808/1/41
DO - 10.1088/0004-637X/808/1/41
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84940371187
SN - 0004-637X
VL - 808
SP - 1
EP - 6
JO - Astrophysical Journal
JF - Astrophysical Journal
IS - 1
M1 - 41
ER -