Heating of interstellar gas by large molecules or small grains
S. Lepp, A. Dalgarno;
ApJ, 1988, 335, 769
ABSTRACT:The heating of the interstellar medium by photoelectric emission from large molecules or small grains is explored.
Photodetachment of large
negative ions may be a significant heat source in diffuse clouds.
For an
abundance of large molecules relative to hydrogen greater than 2 x 10 to the -7th,
the heating rate from the photoelectrons produced in the photoionization
of large molecules and the photodetachment of large molecular negative
ions exceeds the standard grain-heating rate.
Theoretical models have
been used to infer the abundances of large molecules from the C(+)/C
abundance ratios in the interstellar clouds toward Zeta Oph and Zeta Per.
KEYWORDS: cosmic dust, gas heating, interstellar gas, molecular clouds, photoelectric emission, computational astrophysics, infrared astronomy satellite, interstellar matter, photoionization
CODE: lepp88