Herschel search for O2 toward the Orion Bar

Abstract

We report the results of a search for molecular oxygen (O2) toward the Orion Bar, a prominent photodissociation region at the southern edge of the H II region created by the luminous Trapezium stars. We observed the spectral region around the frequency of the O2 NJ = 3 3-12 transition at 487GHz and the 54-3 4 transition at 774GHz using the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared on the Herschel Space Observatory. Neither line was detected, but the 3σ upper limits established here translate to a total line-of-sight O2 column density <1.5 × 1016cm-2 for an emitting region whose temperature is between 30K and 250K, or <1 × 1016cm-2 if the O2 emitting region is primarily at a temperature of ≲100K. Because the Orion Bar is oriented nearly edge-on relative to our line of sight, the observed column density is enhanced by a factor estimated to be between 4 and 20 relative to the face-on value. Our upper limits imply that the face-on O2 column density is less than 4 × 1015cm-2, a value that is below, and possibly well below, model predictions for gas with a density of 104-10 5cm-3 exposed to a far-ultraviolet flux 104 times the local value, conditions inferred from previous observations of the Orion Bar. The discrepancy might be resolved if (1) the adsorption energy of O atoms to ice is greater than 800K; (2) the total face-on A V of the Bar is less than required for O2 to reach peak abundance; (3) the O2 emission arises within dense clumps with a small beam filling factor; or (4) the face-on depth into the Bar where O2 reaches its peak abundance, which is density dependent, corresponds to a sky position different from that sampled by our Herschel beams. © 2012. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..