Aims. We present a comparison between independent computer codes, modeling the physics and chemistry of interstellar photon dominated regions (PDRs). Our goal was to understand the mutual differences in the PDR codes and their effects on the physical and chemical structure of the model clouds, and to converge the output of different codes to a common solution. Methods. A number of benchmark models have been created, covering low and high gas densities n = 10 3 , 10 5.5 cm −3 and far ultraviolet intensities χ = 10, 10 5 in units of the Draine field (FUV: 6 < h ν < 13.6 eV). The benchmark models were computed in two ways: one set assuming constant temperatures, thus testing the consistency of the chemical network and photo-processes, and a second set determining the temperature self consistently by solving the thermal balance, thus testing the modeling of the heating and cooling mechanisms accounting for the detailed energy balance throughout the clouds. Results. We investigated the impact of PDR geometry and agreed on the comparison of results from spherical and plane-parallel PDR models. We identified a number of key processes governing the chemical network which have been treated differently in the various codes such as the effect of PAHs on the electron density or the temperature dependence of the dissociation of CO by cosmic ray induced secondary photons, and defined a proper common treatment. We established a comprehensive set of reference models for ongoing and future PDR model bench-marking and were able to increase the agreement in model predictions for all benchmark models significantly. Nevertheless, the remaining spread in the computed observables such as the atomic fine-structure line intensities serves as a warning that there is still a considerable uncertainty when interpreting astronomical data with our models.

It has long been known that photoionization, whether by starlight or other sources, has difficulty in accounting for the observed spectra of the optical filaments that often surround central galaxies in large clusters. This paper builds on the first of this series in which we examined whether heating by energetic particles or dissipative magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) wave can account for the observations. The first paper focused on the molecular regions which produce strong H2 and CO lines. Here we extend the calculations to include atomic and low‐ionization regions. Two major improvements to the previous calculations have been made. The model of the hydrogen atom, along with all elements of the H‐like iso‐electronic sequence, is now fully nl‐resolved. This allows us to predict the hydrogen emission‐line spectrum including excitation by suprathermal secondary electrons and thermal electrons or nuclei. We show how the predicted H i spectrum differs from the pure‐recombination case. The second update is to the rates for H0–H2 inelastic collisions. We now use the values computed by Wrathmall et al. The rates are often much larger and allow the ro–vibrational H2 level populations to achieve a thermal distribution at substantially lower densities than previously thought. We calculate the chemistry, ionization, temperature, gas pressure and emission‐line spectrum for a wide range of gas densities and collisional heating rates. We assume that the filaments are magnetically confined. The gas is free to move along field lines so that the gas pressure is equal to that of the surrounding hot gas. A mix of clouds, some being dense and cold and others hot and tenuous, can exist. The observed spectrum will be the integrated emission from clouds with different densities and temperatures but the same pressure P/k=nT. We assume that the gas filling factor is given by a power law in density. The power‐law index, the only free parameter in this theory, is set by matching the observed intensities of infrared H2 lines relative to optical H i lines. We conclude that the filaments are heated by ionizing particles, either conducted in from surrounding regions or produced in situ by processes related to MHD waves.

We have performed a series of calculations designed to reproduce infrared diagnostics used to determine physical conditions in star forming regions. We self-consistently calculate the thermal and chemical structure of an H II region and photodissociation region (PDR) that are in pressure equilibrium. This differs from previous work, which used separate calculations for each gas phase. Our calculations span a wide range of stellar temperatures, gas densities, and ionization parameters. We describe improvements made to the spectral synthesis code Cloudy that made these calculations possible. These include the addition of a molecular network with ~1000 reactions involving 68 molecular species and improved treatment of the grain physics. Data from the Spitzer First Look Survey, along with other archives, are used to derive important physical characteristics of the H II region and PDR. These include stellar temperatures, electron densities, ionization parameters, UV radiation flux (G 0 ), and PDR density. Finally, we calculate the contribution of the H II region to PDR emission line diagnostics, which allows for a more accurate determination of physical conditions in the PDR.

The observed faintness of infrared fine-structure line emission along with the warm far-infrared (FIR) colors of ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) is a long-standing problem. In this work, we calculate the line and continuum properties of a cloud exposed to an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) and starburst spectral energy distribution (SED). We use an integrated modeling approach, predicting the spectrum of ionized, atomic, and molecular environments in pressure equilibrium. We find that the effects of high ratios of impinging ionizing radiation density to particle density (i.e. high ionization parameters, or U) can reproduce many ULIRG observational characteristics. Physically, as U increases, the fraction of UV photons absorbed by dust increases, corresponding to fewer photons available to photoionize and heat the gas, producing what is known as a "dust-bounded" nebula. We show that high U effects can explain the "[C II] deficit", the ~1 dex drop in the [C II] 158µm/FIR ratio seen in ULIRGs when compared to starburst or normal galaxies. Additionally, by increasing U through increasing the ionizing photon flux, warmer dust and thus higher IRAS F(60µm)/F(100µm) ratios result. High U effects also predict an increase in [O I]63µm /[C II] 158µm and a gradual decline in [O III] 88µm /FIR, similar to the magnitude of the trends observed, and yield a reasonable fit to [Ne V]14µm /FIR ratio AGN observations.

We present new Herschel photometric and spectroscopic observations of Supernova 1987A, carried out in 2012. Our dedicated photometric measurements provide new 70 µm data and improved imaging quality at 100 and 160 µm compared to previous observations in 2010. Our Herschel spectra show only weak CO line emission, and provide an upper limit for the 63 µm [O i] line flux, eliminating the possibility that line contaminations distort the previously estimated dust mass. The far-infrared spectral energy distribution (SED) is well fitted by thermal emission from cold dust. The newly measured 70 µm flux constrains the dust temperature, limiting it to nearly a single temperature. The far-infrared emission can be fitted by 0.5±0.1 M of amorphous carbon, about a factor of two larger than the current nucleosynthetic mass prediction for carbon. The observation of SiO molecules at early and late phases suggests that silicates may also have formed and we could fit the SED with a combination of 0.3 M of amorphous carbon and 0.5 M of silicates, totalling 0.8 M of dust. Our analysis thus supports the presence of a large dust reservoir in the ejecta of SN 1987A. The inferred dust mass suggests that supernovae can be an important source of dust in the interstellar medium, from local to high-redshift galaxies.