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Session 17 - The Galactic Interstellar Gas.
Display session, Monday, January 13
Metropolitan Ballroom,
The Antarctic Submillimeter Telescope and Remote Observatory (AST/RO) is a 1.7 m diameter off-axis submillimeter-wave telescope operating at the South Pole. Since its installation in the 1994-95 austral summer, AST/RO has been observing the [C I] 492 GHz fine-structure line toward a variety of Galactic and extragalactic objects. The goal is to investigate the photodissociation of molecular gas by ultraviolet radiation in a broad range of physical environments. This poster summarizes the major scientific results thus far. To investigate a low-metallicity environment, we have detected and analyzed the [C I] emission from the Magellanic Clouds. (2) We determine the scale height of [C I] emission in the Galaxy by measuring several strips at constant Galactic longitude. (3) We have detected [C I] in absorption against the broad emission lines toward the Galactic Center, providing evidence that much of the neutral carbon present in the galactic disk resides in very cold, translucent clouds. (4) We have detected [C I] emission from 8 high latitude clouds. These translucent clouds, exposed to modest UV fields, are the simplest laboratories to study the transition between molecular and atomic material. (5) We have surveyed 50 southern H II regions and detect [C I] toward every object.
