Authors
Marc Thys, Dr. Allison J Smith, and Dr. Emmanuel J Morales Butler
Abstract
The Interstellar Medium (ISM) is the vast expanse of material that exists between stars. Comprised mostly of gas, the ISM contains large aggregations known as nebulae. The Pipe Nebula, classified as a dark nebula due to its high density, is an example of such a structure, giving rise to molecular clouds within its confines. Among the molecules present within these clouds is CH, whose hyperfine ground state transition emits three spectral lines around 3.3 GHz. The Pipe Nebula is of particular interest for a variety of reasons. These include that it is a relatively high density nebula that, for some reason, is not birthing many stars. Additionally, it has been studied for its strong magnetic field. All observations were made by the upgraded 12-meter radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory (AO). The data was processed using a set of IDL and Python scripts that encompass the pipeline for the project. This poster aims to present the preliminary results for the detection of CH in the Pipe Nebula and to examine the consequences of these results.