A 3D synoptic view of the Orion B molecular cloud
Organisateures : Jerome Pety (IRAM), Maryvonne Gerin (LERMA)
The advent of wideband, high spectral resolution receivers in millimeter
radio-astronomy turns almost any pointed observation into an unbiased
spectral survey. The challenge is to use these new possibilities to
classify the different kinds of environments (shocks, photo-dissociation
regions, dense cores, diffuse gas, etc...) of the interstellar medium
according to the molecules they contain. We aim at using signal separation
techniques like those used to distinguish different kinds of geological
formations from Earth satellite images. We will also confront the results
of usual astro-chemistry studies with the novel approaches. This project
should contribute to bring quantitative answers to several of the current
question in star formation such as the interpretation of the relation
between the mostly invisible H2 gas and its molecular tracers or the
stellar feedback.