• What is HEXOS?
  • Team Members
• Observational Program
  • Main Goals
  • Observations & Sub Programs
    • Orion KL HIFI/PACS
    • Orion S HIFI/PACS
    • Orion Bar Program
    • Sgr B2 (N) HIFI/PACS
    • Sgr B2 (M) HIFI/PACS
    • Orion Water Mapping
    • Polarization
    • Searching for Deep Molecules
    • Searching for Large Molecules
• Publications & Presentations
• Detected Far-Infrared Lines
• Data Reduction Resources
• HEXOS Wiki
• Get HEXOS Data

Main Goals

The Orion and Sagittarius (Sgr) B2 Molecular Clouds are archetypal regions for many of the physical and chemical processes related to the field of star formation. Both have many aspects, which are critical to the Science Program of Herschel:

• Orion and Sgr B2 contain the classic examples of physical and chemical phenomena prevalent throughout the Galactic interstellar medium (ISM). This includes hot cores, shocks, diffuse clouds, and photon-dominated regions.
• Many of the molecules observed in the ISM to date have been detected first in these sources. Thus these are the sources to search for new molecules, whether light hydrides or large organic molecules, a key goal for Herschel.
• Probing the formation and extent of water vapor is one of the primary science motivators for the Herschel mission. The central region of the Orion molecular cloud is an important part of this effort, as it shows evidence for strong and spatially widespread water vapor emission originating from gas spanning a wide range of physical properties.

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