Kinematics of Molecular Gas in Orion from Observations of the ^{1 3}CO J=2→1 Line

Abstract

We have obtained spectra of the J=2→1 transition of ^{1 3}CO covering a 16 arcminute by 33 arcminute region centered on the KL object in the Orion molecular cloud. These spectra reveal a high degree of complexity in the emission at many positions, which suggests that the molecular gas has been significantly perturbed by the HII region and Trapezium stars located in front of it. The velocity features in the affected regions are generally quite narrow with δv_FWHM~1.5 km s^-1. A number of well-defined but extended velocity features indicate that the gas motion in this region is inherently quite complex.