Dense molecular clouds in the crab supernova remnant

Wootten, Alwyn; Bentley, Rory O.; Baldwin, J.; Combes, F.; Fabian, A. C.; Ferland, G. J.; Loh, E.; Salome, P.; Shingledecker, C. N.; Castro-Carrizo, A.

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ac391a

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Dense molecular clouds in the crab supernova remnant

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Shingledecker, C. N.
Center for Astrochemical Studies at MPE, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

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Citation

Wootten, A., Bentley, R. O., Baldwin, J., Combes, F., Fabian, A. C., Ferland, G. J., et al. (2022). Dense molecular clouds in the crab supernova remnant. The Astrophysical Journal, 925(1): 59. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ac391a.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0009-F02F-4

Abstract

Molecular emission was imaged with ALMA from numerous components near and within bright H₂-emitting knots and absorbing dust globules in the Crab Nebula. These observations provide a critical test of how energetic photons and particles produced in a young supernova remnant interact with gas, cleanly differentiating between competing models. The four fields targeted show contrasting properties but within them, seventeen distinct molecular clouds are identified with CO emission; a few also show emission from HCO⁺, SiO, and/or SO. These observations are compared with Cloudy models of these knots. It has been suggested that the Crab filaments present an exotic environment in which H₂ emission comes from a mostly neutral zone probably heated by cosmic rays produced in the supernova surrounding a cool core of molecular gas. Our model is consistent with the observed CO J = 3 − 2 line strength. These molecular line emitting knots in the Crab Nebula present a novel phase of the ISM representative of many important astrophysical environments.