Chemical stratification in the Orion Bar: JCMT Spectral Legacy Survey observations

Context. Photon-dominated regions (PDRs) are expected to show a layered structure in molecular abundances and emerging line emission, which is sensitive to the physical structure of the region as well as the UV radiation illuminating it.

Aims. We aim to study this layering in the Orion Bar, a prototypical nearby PDR with a favorable edge-on geometry.

Methods. We present new maps of 2' x 2' fields at 14 ''-23 '' resolution toward the Orion Bar in the SO 8(8)-9(9), H(2)CO 5(15)-4(14), (13)CO 3-2, C(2)H 4(9/2)-3(7/2) and 4(7/2)-3(5/2), C(18)O 2-1 and HCN 3-2 transitions.

Results. The data reveal a clear chemical stratification pattern. The C(2)H emission peaks close to the ionization front, followed by H(2)CO and SO, while C(18)O, HCN and (13)CO peak deeper into the cloud. A simple PDR model reproduces the observed stratification, although the SO emission is predicted to peak much deeper into the cloud than observed while the H(2)CO peak is predicted to peak closer to the ionization front than observed. In addition, the predicted SO abundance is higher than observed while the H(2)CO abundance is lower than observed.

Conclusions. The discrepancies between the models and observations indicate that more sophisticated models, including production of H(2)CO through grain surface chemistry, are needed to quantitatively match the observations of this region.