H2 fluorescent emission from the diffuse interstellar medium

2024/10/12 by David A. Neufeld, Neufeld, David A.
Chemistry · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) #Atmospheric Ozone and Climate #FOS: Physical sciences #Spectroscopy and Laser Applications

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2410.09315

openalex publication_date 2024/10/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

A simple analytic model is presented to predict the near-IR H2 fluorescent line intensities emitted by diffuse interstellar clouds with a Plummer density profile. It is applicable to sightlines where (1) the column densities of H and H2 have been measured and (2) the peak gas density can be estimated from extinction maps or observations of C2 absorption.

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