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First Results from the Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite – H2O and O2 Discoveries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2016

Gary J. Melnick*
Affiliation:
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Abstract

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The Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS) was successfully launched on 5 December 1998 with the goals of studying: (1) the distribution of oxygen in the interstellar medium; (2) the role of H2O and O2 as gas coolants; and (3) the UV-illuminated surfaces of molecular clouds. To achieve these goals, SWAS is conducting pointed observations of dense (n(H2) > 103 cm–3) molecular clouds throughout our Galaxy in either the ground-state or a low-lying transition of five astrophysically important species: H2O, H218O, O2, CI, and 13CO. SWAS has made great strides in each of these areas of investigation. This paper will summarize our H2O and O2 findings one year into the mission.

Type
Part 2. Chemistry in High-Mass Star-Forming Regions
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2000 

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