CHANGES OF DUST OPACITY WITH DENSITY IN THE ORION A MOLECULAR CLOUD

We have studied the opacity of dust grains at submillimeter wavelengths by estimating the optical depth from imaging at 160, 250, 350, and 500 {mu}m from the Herschel Gould Belt Survey and comparing this to a column density obtained from the Two Micron All Sky Survey derived color excess E(J - K {sub s}). Our main goal was to investigate the spatial variations of the opacity due to 'big' grains over a variety of environmental conditions and thereby quantify how emission properties of the dust change with column (and volume) density. The central and southern areas of the Orion A molecular cloud examined here, with N {sub H} ranging from 1.5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 21} cm{sup -2} to 50 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 21} cm{sup -2}, are well suited to this approach. We fit the multi-frequency Herschel spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of each pixel with a modified blackbody to obtain the temperature, T, and optical depth, {tau}{sub 1200}, at a fiducial frequency of 1200 GHz (250 {mu}m). Using a calibration of N {sub H}/E(J - K{sub s} ) for the interstellar medium (ISM) we obtained the opacity (dust emission cross-section per H nucleon), {sigma}{sub e}(1200), for every pixel. From a value {approx}1 Multiplication-Signmore » 10{sup -25} cm{sup 2} H{sup -1} at the lowest column densities that is typical of the high-latitude diffuse ISM, {sigma}{sub e}(1200) increases as N {sup 0.28} {sub H} over the range studied. This is suggestive of grain evolution. Integrating the SEDs over frequency, we also calculated the specific power P (emission power per H) for the big grains. In low column density regions where dust clouds are optically thin to the interstellar radiation field (ISRF), P is typically 3.7 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -31} W H{sup -1}, again close to that in the high-latitude diffuse ISM. However, we find evidence for a decrease of P in high column density regions, which would be a natural outcome of attenuation of the ISRF that heats the grains, and for localized increases for dust illuminated by nearby stars or embedded protostars.« less