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Session 42 - Molecular Clouds: Models and Observations.
Display session, Tuesday, June 11
Great Hall,
The Antarctic Submillimeter Telescope and Remote Observatory (AST/RO) is a 1.7 meter diameter telescope for research in astronomy and aeronomy at wavelengths between 200 and 2,000 \mum. AST/RO recently completed its first year of operation at the U.S. Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. The instrument is currently operational with three heterodyne receivers and three acousto-optical spectrometers. The primary scientific objective of AST/RO during its first few years of operation is to carry out a large-scale survey of the southern Galactic Plane, high-latitude clouds, and the Magellanic Clouds in the emission lines of neutral atomic carbon (CI) at 492 and 809 GHz.
We report here preliminary results of a survey of nearly 50 Southern Hemisphere galactic HII regions in the ^3P_ \rm1-^3P_0 fine-structure line of CI (Hereafter CI). As part of the commissioning process of AST/RO, a survey was made of a sample of HII regions in or near the southern Galactic Plane, selected on the basis of the intensity of their H109\alpha radio recombination line. Most of the HII regions were detected in CI. Many detections show high quality, sensitive spectra. The CI properties of these sources are discussed and compared with existing carbon monoxide and radio recombination line surveys.
This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under a cooperative agreement with the Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica (CARA), grant number NSF OPP 89-20223. CARA is a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center.
