Abstract

We reexamine the spectroscopic underpinnings of recent suggestions that [O I] and [Fe II] lines from the Orion H II region are produced in gas where the iron-carrying grains have been destroyed and the electron density is surprisingly high. Our new observations show that previous detections of [O I] 5577 were dominated by telluric emission. Our limits are consistent with a moderate density (≈ 104 cm-3) photoionized gas. We show that a previously proposed model of the Orion H II region reproduces the observed [O I] and [Fe II] spectrum. These lines are fully consistent with formation in a dusty region of moderate density.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-10-1996

Notes/Citation Information

Published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, v. 468, no. 2, p. L115-L118.

©1996. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed

The copyright holder has granted permission for posting the article here.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/310245

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