The Polaris Flare - Extensive molecular gas near the north celestial pole
A. Heithausen, P. Thaddeus;
ApJ, 1990, 353, L49
ABSTRACT:CO observations with the CfA 1.2 m telescope reveal an extensive molecular cloud at high Galactiic latitude in the direction of the north
celestial pole.
The object, the Polaris Flare, covers 80 percent of the 50 sq deg
surveyed, making it larger in apparent size by an order of magnitude than
previously known cirrus clouds.
The Polaris Flare is at a distance of about 240 pc
and has a total mass of about 5500 solar masses.
Its distance, 100 micron
intensity, N(H2)/W(CO) ratio, and gravitational stability are similar to those
of other high-latitude clouds.
IRAS 100 micron emission over more than
40 percent of the sky is comparable to that toward the Flare, suggesting
that very sensitive CO surveys at high latitudes can detect molecular gas in
a much larger fraction of the sky than previously suspected.
KEYWORDS: interstellar matter, molecular clouds, molecular gases, star formation, carbon monoxide, infrared astronomy satellite, milky way galaxy
CODE: heithausen90