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| Paper: |
Small-Scale Dissipative Structures of Diffuse ISM Turbulence: I – CO Diagnostics |
| Volume: |
365, SINS — Small Ionized and Neutral Structures in the Diffuse Interstellar Medium |
| Page: |
184 |
| Authors: |
Hily-Blant, P.; Pety, J.; Falgarone, E. |
| Abstract: |
Observations of translucent molecular gas in 12CO and 13CO emission lines, at high spectral and spatial resolutions, evidence different kinds of structures at small scales: (1) optically thin 12CO emission, (2) optically thick 12CO emission, visible in 13CO(1-0), and (3) regions of largest velocity shear in the field, found from a statistical analysis. They are all elongated with high aspect ratio, preferentially aligned with the plane-of-the-sky projection of the magnetic fields. The latter structures coincide with the former, shown to trace gas warmer and more diluted than average. Comparing our data to large-scale observations of poorer spatial resolution, we show that the regions of largest velocity shear remain coherent over more than a parsec. These filaments are proposed to be the sites of the intermittent dissipation of turbulence. |
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