Extensive [C I] Mapping toward the orion-a giant molecular cloud

Abstract

We have carried out wide-field (0.17 deg2) and high-angular resolution (21.″3 ∼ 0.04 pc) observations in the [C I] line toward the Orion-A giant molecular cloud with the Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment 10 m telescope in the On-The-Fly mode. The overall features of the [C I] emission are similar to those of the 12CO (J = 1-0) emission by Shimajiri et al. in 2011; the total intensity ratio of the [C I] to CO emission ranges from 0.05 to 0.2. The optical depth of the [C I] emission is found to be 0.1-0.75, suggesting optically thin emission. The column density of the [C I] emission is estimated to be (1.0-19) × 1017 cm-2. These results are consistent with the results of the previous [C I] observations with a low-angular resolution of 2.′2. In the nearly edge-on photon-dominated regions (PDRs) and their candidates of the Orion Bar, DLSF, M 43 Shell, and Region D, the distributions of the [C I] emission coincide with those of the 12CO emission, inconsistent with the prediction by the plane-parallel PDR model. In addition, the [C I] distribution in the Orion A cloud is found to be more similar to those of the 13CO (J = 1-0), C18O (J = 1-0), and H13CO+ (J = 1-0) lines than that of the 12CO (J = 1-0) line, suggesting that the [C I] emission is not limited to the cloud surface, but is tracing the dense, inner parts of the cloud. © 2013. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.