Shocks in dense molecular clouds: OMC-1 revisited

Abstract

The molecular and atomic fine structure signatures of planar shocks, bow shocks and shock absorbers propagating within dense clouds are presented. A comparison with the powerful OMC-1 bipolar outflow leads to numerous conclusions. Planar and spherical C-shock models are clearly ruled out: besides the H2 line properties, the CO, O I and OH data all lack self-consistent interpretations.