COMAP Galactic science I: observations of spinning dust emission at 30 GHz in dark clouds surrounding the λ-Orionis H <scp>ii</scp> region

ABSTRACT Anomalous microwave emission (AME) is a major component of Galactic emission in the frequency band 10–60 GHz and is commonly modelled as rapidly rotating spinning dust grains. The photodissociation region (PDR) at the boundary of the $\lambda$-Orionis H ii region has been identified by several recent analyses as one of the brightest spinning dust-emitting sources in the sky. We investigate the Barnard 30 dark cloud, a dark cloud embedded within the $\lambda$-Orionis PDR. We use total-power observations of Barnard 30 from the CO Mapping Array Project (COMAP) pathfinder instrument at 26–34GHz with a resolution of 4.5 arcmin alongside existing data from Planck, WISE, IRAS, ACT, and the 1.447 GHz GALFACTS survey. We use aperture photometry and template fitting to measure the spectral energy distribution of Barnard 30. We find that the spinning dust is the dominant emission component in the 26–34GHz range at the $6\, \sigma$ level ($S_{30\, \mathrm{GHz}} = 3.35\pm 0.56$ Jy). From correlating COMAP data with dust templates we find no evidence that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are the preferred carrier for the spinning dust emission, suggesting that the spinning dust carriers are due to a mixed population of very small grains. Finally, we find evidence for variations in spinning dust emissivity and peak frequency within Barnard 30, and that these variations are possibly driven by changes in dust grain population and the total radiation field. Confirming the origin of the variations in the spinning dust spectrum will require both future COMAP observations at 15 GHz combined with spectroscopic mid-infrared data of Barnard 30.

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Journal
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Published
2024-12-19
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stae2749
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.33

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article

COMAP Galactic science I: observations of spinning dust emission at 30 GHz in dark clouds surrounding the λ-Orionis H ii region

H. T. Ihle, Stuart Harper, R. Ricci, H. K. Eriksen et al.
1 citations
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies
0.33
article

COMAP Galactic science I: observations of spinning dust emission at 30 GHz in dark clouds surrounding the λ-Orionis H ii region

H. T. Ihle, Stuart Harper, R. Ricci, H. K. Eriksen, Nils-Ole Stutzer, R. Paladini, J. M. Stil, Brandon S. Hensley, Joshua Ott Gundersen, Thomas J. Rennie, I. K. Wehus, J. G. S. Lunde, Roke Cepeda-Arroita, Gabriel A. Hoerning, A. R. Taylor, Delaney A. Dunne, Clive Dickinson Kieran A Cleary
article en
1 citations

Abstract

ABSTRACT Anomalous microwave emission (AME) is a major component of Galactic emission in the frequency band 10–60 GHz and is commonly modelled as rapidly rotating spinning dust grains. The photodissociation region (PDR) at the boundary of the $\lambda$-Orionis H ii region has been identified by several recent analyses as one of the brightest spinning dust-emitting sources in the sky. We investigate the Barnard 30 dark cloud, a dark cloud embedded within the $\lambda$-Orionis PDR. We use total-power observations of Barnard 30 from the CO Mapping Array Project (COMAP) pathfinder instrument at 26–34GHz with a resolution of 4.5 arcmin alongside existing data from Planck, WISE, IRAS, ACT, and the 1.447 GHz GALFACTS survey. We use aperture photometry and template fitting to measure the spectral energy distribution of Barnard 30. We find that the spinning dust is the dominant emission component in the 26–34GHz range at the $6\, \sigma$ level ($S_{30\, \mathrm{GHz}} = 3.35\pm 0.56$ Jy). From correlating COMAP data with dust templates we find no evidence that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are the preferred carrier for the spinning dust emission, suggesting that the spinning dust carriers are due to a mixed population of very small grains. Finally, we find evidence for variations in spinning dust emissivity and peak frequency within Barnard 30, and that these variations are possibly driven by changes in dust grain population and the total radiation field. Confirming the origin of the variations in the spinning dust spectrum will require both future COMAP observations at 15 GHz combined with spectroscopic mid-infrared data of Barnard 30.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyVol. 536(3)
California Institute of Technology (US), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (US), University of British Columbia (CA), University of Miami (US), University of Cape Town (ZA), University of Calgary (CA), University of Oslo (NO), University of Manchester (GB), Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna (IT), Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (US), Inter-university Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy (ZA), University of the Western Cape (ZA)
National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, California Institute of Technology, Keck Institute for Space Studies, UK Space Agency, Norges Forskningsråd, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Science and Technology Facilities Council
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Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies
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