First science observations with SOFIA/FORCAST: 6-37 μm imaging of the central Orion nebula

Abstract

We present new mid-infrared images of the central region of the Orion Nebula using the newly commissioned Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy airborne telescope and its 5-40μm camera FORCAST. The 37.1μm images represent the highest resolution observations (≲4″) ever obtained of this region at these wavelengths. After BN/KL (which is described in a separate paper in this issue), the dominant source at all wavelengths except 37.1μm is the Ney-Allen Nebula, a crescent-shaped extended source associated with θ1 D Ori. The morphology of the Ney-Allen nebula in our images is consistent with the interpretation that it is ambient dust swept up by the stellar wind from θ1 D Ori, as suggested by Smith et al. in 2005. Our observations also reveal emission from two "proplyds" (proto-planetary disks), and a few embedded young stellar objects (YSOs; IRc 9, and OMC1-S IRS1, 2, and 10). The spectral energy distribution for IRc 9 is presented and fitted with standard YSO models from Robitaille et al. in 2007 to constrain the total luminosity, disk size, and envelope size. The diffuse, nebular emission we observe at all FORCAST wavelengths is most likely from the background photodissociation region (PDR) and shows structure that coincides roughly with Hα and [N II] emission. We conclude that the spatial variations in the diffuse emission are likely due to undulations in the surface of the background PDR. © 2012 The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.