Photon dominated regions: Observations of [C I] and CO

Abstract

Since the construction of the first specialized submillimeter telescopes nearly a decade ago, there has been extensive mapping of astronomical sources in the previously difficult to observe ground-state fine-structure transition of [C I] at 492 GHz. We discuss recent CSO observations of [C I] and 13 CO (2 → 1) lines toward bright photon-dominated regions (PDRs). These observations have revealed an interesting effect. In many sources and over a broad range of column densities, the observed intensity of the [C I] line is proportional to that of the 13 CO (2 → 1) line with exceptions mainly in dense, active star-forming regions, where C I appears to be under-abundant relative to 13 CO. In this paper we quantitatively display this effect.