Observations of HCO^+^ in NGC 7293

DOI

The J=1->0 transition of HCO^+^ at 89GHz has been mapped across the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) with 70" spatial resolution (1.68km/s velocity resolution) using the Arizona Radio Observatory 12m telescope. This work is the first large-scale mapping project of a dense gas tracer (n(H_2_)~10^5^/cm3) in old planetary nebulae. Observations of over 200 positions encompassing the classical optical image were conducted with a 3{sigma} noise level of ~20mK. HCO^+^ was detected at most positions, often exhibiting multiple velocity components indicative of complex kinematic structures in dense gas. The HCO^+^ spectra suggest that the Helix is composed of a bipolar, barrel-like structure with red- and blue-shifted halves, symmetric with respect to the central star and oriented ~10{deg} east from the line of sight. A second bipolar, higher velocity outflow exists as well, situated along the direction of the Helix "plumes." The column density of HCO^+^ across the Helix is N_tot_~1.5x10^10^-5.0x10^11^/cm2, with an average value N_ave_~1x10^11^/cm2, corresponding to an abundance, relative to H_2_, of f~1.4x10^-8^. This value is similar to that observed in young PN, and contradicts chemical models, which predict that the abundance of HCO^+^ decreases with nebular age. This study indicates that polyatomic molecules readily survive the ultraviolet field of the central white dwarf, and can be useful in tracing nebular morphology in the very late stages of stellar evolution.

Identifier
DOI http://doi.org/10.26093/cds/vizier.17780016
Source https://dc.g-vo.org/rr/q/lp/custom/CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/778/16
Related Identifier https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJ/778/16
Related Identifier http://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/778/16
Metadata Access http://dc.g-vo.org/rr/q/pmh/pubreg.xml?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_b2find&identifier=ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/778/16
Provenance
Creator Zeigler N.R.; Zack L.N.; Woolf N.J.; Ziurys L.M.
Publisher CDS
Publication Year 2015
Rights https://cds.unistra.fr/vizier-org/licences_vizier.html
OpenAccess true
Contact CDS support team <cds-question(at)unistra.fr>
Representation
Resource Type Dataset; AstroObjects
Discipline Astrophysics and Astronomy; Interstellar medium; Natural Sciences; Observational Astronomy; Physics