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Selected Works

Sean D Brittain

2014

ISM: Molecules

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Interstellar H3+ Line Absorption Toward Lkhα 101, Sean D. Brittain, Theodore Simon, Craig Kulesa, Terrence W. Rettig Aug 2014

Interstellar H3+ Line Absorption Toward Lkhα 101, Sean D. Brittain, Theodore Simon, Craig Kulesa, Terrence W. Rettig

Sean D Brittain

We present a detection of three lines of the H+3 ion in the near-infrared spectrum of the Herbig Be star LkHalpha 101. H+3 is the principal initiator of gas-phase chemistry in interstellar clouds and can be used to constrain the ionization rate or the path length through interstellar material along the line of sight. Essentially all of the observed H+3 column of (2.2+/-0.3)×1014 cm-2 toward LkHalpha 101 originates in the same dense, dark cloud; less than 1 mag of the ~11 total magnitudes of visual extinction is attributable to diffuse material. Constraints on the density [1×104cm-3


Warm Hcn, C2h2, And Co In The Disk Of Gv Tau, E L. Gibb, K A. Vanbrunt, Sean D. Brittain, T W. Rettig Aug 2014

Warm Hcn, C2h2, And Co In The Disk Of Gv Tau, E L. Gibb, K A. Vanbrunt, Sean D. Brittain, T W. Rettig

Sean D Brittain

We present the first high-resolution, ground-based observations of HCN and C2H2 toward the T Tauri binary star system GV Tau. We detected strong absorption due to HCN nu3 and weak C2H2 [nu3 and nu2+(nu4+nu5)0+] absorption toward the primary (GV Tau S) but not the infrared companion. We also report CO column densities and rotational temperatures, and present abundances relative to CO of HCN/CO~0.6% and C2H/CO~1.2% and an upper limit for CH4/CO