AAS 200th meeting, Albuquerque, NM, June 2002
Session 73. Interim Stellar Materials: Gas, Dust and Clouds
Display, Thursday, June 6, 2002, 9:20am-4:00pm, SW Exhibit Hall

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[73.11] CO and H2 in the ISM with FUSE and STIS

P. Sonnentrucker, S. D. Friedman (JHU), D. E. Welty, D. G. York (U. Chicago), T. P. Snow (U. Colorado)

We present preliminary results of the detailed study of the physical conditions the interstellar gas exhibits in 5 lines of sight potentially containing translucent material. The combination of FUSE and STIS data covers the wavelength range 912-1361 Å. This range contains a wealth of lines of heavy elements (C I, C I*, C I**, Cl I, Fe II, Mg II) and molecular species (H2, CO and HD), which are extremely useful to diagnose the state of the gas in terms of pressure, temperature, density, abundances and depletion. We will show that even though the lines of sight have extremely similar total molecular hydrogen densities, subtle differences exist locally which have an important effect on parameters such as the CO/H2 ratio.

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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34
© 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.