Search

We discuss airborne observations of rotational transitions of various hydride molecules in the interstellar medium, including H2O-18 and HCl. The detection of these transitions is now feasible with a new, sensitive submillimeter receiver which has been developed for the NASA Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO) over the past several years.

We have constructed a sensitive submillimeter receiver for the NASA Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO) which at present operates in the 500-750 GHz band. The DSB receiver noise temperature is about 5 h nu/k(sub B) over the 500-700 GHz range. This receiver has been used to detect H2O(18)O, HCl, and CH in interstellar molecular clouds, and also to search for C(+) emission from the highly redshifted galaxy (z = 2.3) IRAS 10214.

The radiant output of a noise tube designed for the 90-140-GHz (3.3-2.1-mm) frequency range has been compared with that from mercury lamps over the wavelength region from 0.4 to about 6 mm. Lamellar grating and Michelson Fourier transform spectrometers were used in conjunction with He cooled bolometers of NEP from 10 to the -12th to 10 to the -14th W/sq rt H2 to measure relative spectral irradiance. With this instrumental arrangement, the radiant power emitted by the noise tube was observed to be less than that from a mercury lamp, at least to a 3-mm wavelength, but it produced less source noise than an ac operated mercury lamp. When the noise tube operating current was reduced, the spectral irradiance peak shifted to longer wavelengths.