Interpretation of rotationally excited far-infrared OH emission in Orion-KL

The 2Pi(1/2) OH 163-micron J = 3/2-1/2 rotational transitions in Orion-KL were observed and an upper limit was set to the line strength of the 2II(1/2) OH 56-micron J = 9/2-7/2 doublet in this source. The 163-micron line intensities were modeled, along with the previously measured 2II(3/2) 119 and 84-micron rotational line emission and it is found that the gas in the Orion-KL postshocked region can produce OH 119-micron line emission of the same strength as measured; however, the resultant 84 and 163-micron line intensities would be weaker than observed. Shocked gas plus a second component which experiences strong radiative excitation can reproduce the observations.