The following document lists the file abstract/RLISEAU_RHOPSPEC.abs
from catalogue VI/111.
A plain copy of the file
(without headers/trailers) may be downloaded.
Strip scans with the LWS through the rho Ophiuchi main cloud (L 1688) are proposed. Full grating scans at high S/N will simultaneously provide information on the physical state of the gas (spectral lines) and of the dust particles (continuum/solid state features) in each observed position. A wide range of excitation conditions are known to exist within the cloud, as seen in the extended emission of ionic fine structure transitions, e.g. [C II]158 micron, and in that of low lying molecular rotational transitions such as CS (J=2-1). What regards the dust, several cold clumps, immersed in a warmer medium, have been observed in the submm/mm regime from the ground. In a recent study we have found that the gas and the dust appear not to be well mixed on scales of the order of 0.15 pc and the proposed LWS observations will directly address this issue. The proposed strip scans will map the major star forming condensations found in the rho Oph core. Apparently, bodies of substellar mass (`brown dwarfs') are found near only two of them. In addition, an apparently inactive condensation will be observed. Combined with the results from the ISOCAM and ISOPHOT Guaranteed and Open Time surveys for the stellar population of the cloud, these spectroscopic observations will map the physics of stellar formation at the relevant frequencies in unprecedented detail.