ALMA imaging study of methyl formate (HCOOCH$_{3}$) in the torsionally excited states towards Orion KL

TL;DR

This study uses ALMA high-resolution imaging to analyze methyl formate in different torsional states in Orion KL, revealing temperature differences and velocity components that improve understanding of molecular excitation in star-forming regions.

Contribution

It provides the first high-resolution spatial analysis of methyl formate's torsional states in Orion KL, clarifying temperature discrepancies observed in previous single-dish studies.

Findings

Confirmed two velocity components in the Compact Ridge.

Found rotational temperature higher than vibrational temperature at 7.3 km/s in Compact Ridge.

Identified similar spatial distributions across torsional states.

Abstract

We recently reported the first identification of rotational transitions of methyl formate (HCOOCH$_{3}$) in the second torsionally excited state toward Orion Kleinmann-Low (KL) observed with the Nobeyama 45 m telescope. In combination with the identified transitions of methyl formate in the ground state and the first torsional excited state, it was found that there is a difference in rotational temperature and vibrational temperature, where the latter is higher. In this study, high spatial resolution analysis by using Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) science verification data was carried out to verify and understand this difference. Toward the Compact Ridge, two different velocity components at 7.3 and 9.1 km s$^{-1}$ were confirmed, while a single component at 7.3 km s$^{-1}$ was identified towards the Hot Core. The intensity maps in the ground, first, and second torsional excited states have quite similar distributions. Using extensive ALMA data, we determined the rotational and vibrational temperatures for the Compact Ridge and Hot Core by the conventional rotation diagram method. The rotational temperature and vibrational temperatures agree for the Hot Core and for one component of the Compact Ridge. At the 7.3 km s$^{-1}$ velocity component for the Compact Ridge, the rotational temperature was found to be higher than the vibrational temperature. This is different from what we obtained from the results by using the single-dish observation. The difference might be explained by the beam dilution effect of the single-dish data and/or the smaller number of observed transitions within the limited range of energy levels ($\leq$30 K) of $E_u$ in the previous study.