Balloon observations of interstellar [CII](158 micron) and [OI](63 micron) lines

Abstract

Interstellar [CII] and [OI] lines have been observed by the Balloon-Borne Infrared Telescope (BIRT) in corporation with a Fabry-Perot spectrometer. Two balloon flights were successfully made from Palestine, Texas in May/June 1988. With a new method of "frequency switching", diffuse [CII] line emission was efficiently detected and mapped in extended regions around HII/molecular cloud complexes and in a wide area of the Galactic plane. It has been shown that the [CII] emission is very strong and ubiquitously distributed in interstellar space in the Galaxy. © 1992.