Related papers: The Ionization Fraction in Dense Clouds
We present an observational and theoretical study of the ionization fraction in several massive cores located in regions that are currently forming stellar clusters. Maps of the emission from the J = 1-> O transitions of C18O, DCO+, N2H+,…
Absorption lines from the molecules OH+, H2O+, and H3+ have been observed in a diffuse molecular cloud along a line of sight near W51 IRS2. We present the first chemical analysis that combines the information provided by all three of these…
The ionization fraction ($f_\mathrm{e}=n_\mathrm{e}/n_\mathrm{H}$) is a crucial parameter of interstellar gas, yet estimating it requires deep knowledge of molecular gas chemistry and observations of specific lines, such as those from…
The electron density ($n_{e^{-}}$) plays an important role in setting the chemistry and physics of the interstellar medium. However, measurements of $n_{e^{-}}$ in neutral clouds have been directly obtained only toward a few lines of sight…
Deuterium fractionation in molecular ions, in particular HCO+, has been extensively used to estimate the degree of ionization in molecular clouds. This paper reviews recent work on ionization degree in homogeneous clouds. We will show that…
The ionization fraction is an important factor in determining the chemical and physical evolution of star forming regions. In the dense, dark starless cores of such objects, the ionization rate is dominated by cosmic rays; it is therefore…
Context. Ionization plays a central role in the gas-phase chemistry of molecular clouds. Since ions are coupled with magnetic fields, which can in turn counteract gravitational collapse, it is of paramount importance to measure their…
To determine the properties of the ionized gas at the edge of the CMZ near Sgr E we observed a small portion of the edge of the CMZ near Sgr E with spectrally resolved [C II] 158 micron and [N II] 205 micron fine structure lines at six…
We present model calculations of ionization fractions for elements in the warm (log T = 4), low-density photoionized interstellar medium (WIM) of the Milky Way. We model the WIM as a combination of overlapping low-excitation H II regions…
With the high-resolution spectroscopy now available in the optical and satellite UV, it is possible to determine the neutral/ionized column density ratios for several different elements in a single cloud. Assuming ionization equilibrium for…
Electron fraction and cosmic-ray ionization rates (CRIR) in star-forming regions are important quantities in astrochemical modeling and are critical to the degree of coupling between neutrals, ions, and electrons, which regulates the…
We present high-resolution (FWHM ~ 0.3-1.5 km/s) spectra of interstellar Ca I absorption toward 30 Galactic stars. Comparisons of the column densities of Ca I, Ca II, K I, and other species -- for individual components identified in the…
We present an analysis of deep $\textit{JWST}$/NIRSpec spectra of star-forming galaxies at $z\simeq1.4-10$, observed as part of the AURORA survey. We infer median low-ionization electron densities of $268_{-49}^{+45}~\rm cm^{-3}$,…
We use ultraviolet spectra of Capella from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) satellites to study interstellar absorption lines from the Local Interstellar Cloud (LIC). Measurements of these…
The recent discovery of carbon in close to half of the low neutral hydrogen column density [$N({\rm H~I}) > 3\ten{14}\cm2$] Lyman forest clouds toward $z \sim 3$ quasars has challenged the widely held view of this forest as a chemically…
Cosmic rays are a global source of ionisation, and the ionisation fraction represents a fundamental parameter in the interstellar medium. Ions couple to magnetic fields, affect the chemistry, and the dynamics of star-forming regions as well…
We present direct measures of the ionization fractions of several sulfur ions in the Galactic warm ionized medium (WIM). We obtained high resolution ultraviolet absorption line spectroscopy of post-asymptotic giant branch stars in the the…
In the redshift interval of $2<z<3$, the physical conditions of the inter-stellar medium (ISM) in star-forming galaxies are likely to be different from those in the local Universe because of lower gaseous metallicities, higher gas…
The intensity of the \oiv~2s$^{2}$ 2p $^{2}$P-2s2p$^{2}$ $^{4}$P and \siv~3 s$^{2}$ 3p $^{2}$P- 3s 3p$^{2}$ $^{4}$ P intercombination lines around 1400~\AA~observed with the \textit{Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph} (IRIS) provide a…
We present high signal-to-noise spectrophotometric observations of seven luminous HII galaxies. The observations have been made with the use of a double-arm spectrograph which provides spectra with a wide wavelength coverage, from 3400 to…