Far-infrared emission line and continuum observations of NGC 7027

The first observation of a fine-structure transition in NGC 7027 at wavelengths greater than 30 microns is reported. The flux in the 63.2-micron line is found to be approximately 10 to the -16th W/sq cm. It is noted that if NGC 7027 lies at 1 kpc, this corresponds to a luminosity, in the line, approximately 30 times greater than the solar luminosity. The flux of the 88.35-micron line is less than 10 to the -17th W/sq cm, and the upper limit to the line flux at 51.8 microns is found to be 10 to the -16th W/sq cm. These upper limits imply an electron density that is less than 1.6 x 10 to the 5th/cu cm. It is noted that the continuum measurements obtained support a dust temperature of 90 K with an emissivity approximately equal to the reciprocal of the square of the wavelength. The data exclude grain materials whose wavelength-dependent emissivity (the reciprocal of the wavelength raised to nth power) requires n to be outside the range between 1.6 and 2, unless the temperature varies drastically across the dust cloud