The abundance, ortho/para ratio, and deuteration of water in the high-mass star-forming region NGC 6334 i

Abstract

We present Herschel/HIFI observations of 30 transitions of water isotopologues toward the high-mass star-forming region NGC 6334 I. The line profiles of H162O, H172O, H 182O, and HDO show a complex pattern of emission and absorption components associated with the embedded hot cores, a lower-density envelope, two outflow components, and several foreground clouds, some associated with the NGC 6334 complex, others seen in projection against the strong continuum background of the source. Our analysis reveals an H2O ortho/para ratio of 3 ± 0.5 in the foreground clouds, as well as the outflow. The water abundance varies from ∼10-8 in the foreground clouds and the outer envelope to ∼10-6 in the hot core. The hot core abundance is two orders of magnitude below the chemical model predictions for dense, warm gas, but within the range of values found in other Herschel/HIFI studies of hot cores and hot corinos. This may be related to the relatively low gas and dust temperature (∼100 K), or time-dependent effects, resulting in a significant fraction of water molecules still locked up in dust grain mantles. The HDO/H2O ratio in NGC 6334 I, ∼2 × 10-4, is also relatively low, but within the range found in other high-mass star-forming regions. © 2013. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.