The shocked molecular layer in RCW 120

Abstract

Expansion of wind-blown bubbles or H II regions lead to formation of shocks in the interstellar medium, which compress surrounding gas into dense layers. We made spatially and velocity-resolved observations of the RCW 120 photo-dissociation region (PDR) and nearby molecular gas with CO(6-5) and ¹³CO(6-5) lines and distinguished a bright CO-emitting layer, which we related with the dense shocked molecular gas moving away from the ionizing star due to expansion of H II region. Simulating gas density and temperature, as well as brightness of several CO and C+ emission lines from the PDR, we found reasonable agreement with the observed values. Analysing gas kinematics, we revealed the large-scale shocked PDR and also several dense environments of embedded protostars and outflows. We observe the shocked layer as the most regular structure in the CO(6-5) map and in the velocity space, when the gas around Young stellar objects (YSOs) is dispersed by the outflows.