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A JWST Preview: Adaptive-Optics Images of H$_2$, Br-$\gamma$, and K-continuum in Carina's Western Wall by Hartigan, Patrick; Downes, Turlough; Isella, Andrea is a scholarly article available to read on EtoBox.

What is A JWST Preview: Adaptive-Optics Images of H$_2$, Br-$\gamma$, and K-continuum in Carina's Western Wall about?

We present the first wide-field near-infrared adaptive optics images of Carina's Western Wall (G287.38-0.62), one of the brightest and most well-defined irradiated interfaces known in a region of massive star formation. The new narrowband H$_2$ 2.12$\mu$m, Br-$\gamma$ and K-continuum images trace the photoevaporative flow from the cloud and identify locations where UV-radiation from the surrounding massive stars excites molecular hydrogen to fluoresce. With a field of view of $\sim$ 1.5' $\times$ 2.9' and spatial resolution between 60 $-$ 110 mas, the new images show a spectacular level of detail over a large area, and presage what JWST should achieve. The Wall is convex in shape, with a large triangular-shaped extension near its apex. The interface near the apex consists of 3 $-$ 4 regularly-spaced ridges with projected spacings of $\sim$ 2000 AU, suggestive of a large-scale dynamically-important magnetic field. The northern edge of the Wall breaks into several swept-back fragments of width $\sim$ 1800 AU that resemble Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities, and the southern part of the Wall also shows complex morphologies including a sinusoidal-like variation with a half-wavelength of 25

Author

Hartigan, Patrick; Downes, Turlough; Isella, Andrea

Published

2020

Language

EN