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Paper: Excitation of the arched filaments near the Galactic Center
Volume: 73, Airborne Astronomy Symposium on the Galactic Ecosystem: From Gas to Stars to Dust
Page: 507
Authors: Colgan, Sean W. J.; Erickson, Edwin F.; Simpson, Janet P.; Haas, Michael R.; Morris, Mark
Abstract: We discuss measurements of the far-infrared (FIR) fine structure lines from (S III) (33 microns), (Si II) (35 microns), (O III) (51, 88 microns), (OI) (63 microns), (C II) (158 microns), and the adjacent continua in a strip crossing two of the thermal radio filaments in the Galactic Center 'Arch'. The near spatial coincidence of the line and continuum emission maxima with the radio filaments demonstrates that any excitation mechanism must account for both the line and continuum emission. The peak FIR luminosity and (O III) emission pose difficulties for collisional excitation models; photoionization of molecular cloud edges by a random distribution of stars is the most plausible mechanism proposed.
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