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B-G Andersson, S.R. McCandliss (CAS/JHU), E.B. Burgh (U.W.-Madison), K.E.S. Ford, D.A. Neufeld (CAS/JHU), S.R. Federman (U. Toledo)
We present preliminary results from recent FUSE observations of the reflection nebula IC 63. The nebula is located ~1.3 pc from the B0IVe star \gamma\ Cas and has been extensively studied at many wavelengths, including FUV observations of the molecular hydrogen fluorescence with IUE and ORFEUS. Based on the latter, Hurwitz (1998) hypothesized that optical depth effects play an important role in the characteristics of the emergent spectrum. In order to test this hypothesis and to study the spatial variability of the emission more fully we have acquired three separate pointings using the FUSE 4" (MDRS) slit, spanning the region from the CO (mm-wave) peak to the optical bright rim. The spectra are dominated by molecular hydrogen fluorescence, but also contain scattered continuum light and other line emission. Molecular hydrogen fluorescence is detected in all three positions, albeit weakly in the one closest to \gamma\ Cas. We discuss some of the special data reduction challenges posed by these observations as well as preliminary results and plans for further analysis of the data. This work is supported by the NASA grant NAG510380 to JHU.