Authors
Marc Thys
Abstract
The Interstellar Medium (ISM) is the vast expanse of material that exists between stars. Comprised of gas and dust, the ISM contains large aggregations known as nebulae. One such example, the Pipe Nebula, classified as a dark nebula due to its high density, gives rise to molecular clouds within its confines. Interestingly, despite its density, the Pipe Nebula is not birthing many stars in these cores, and it is also known for having a strong magnetic field. As part of a larger pilot survey of the galactic plane, we observed the Pipe Nebula for Methylidyne (CH), a common tracer of molecular gas. Among the molecules present within these clouds is CH, whose hyperfine ground state transition emits three spectral lines around 3.3 GHz. We present the preliminary results for the detection of CH in the Pipe Nebula and examine the consequences of these results.