1994A&A...286..909F

Using the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope, we have obtained a ∼1" spatial resolution image of vibrationally excited H₂ at 2.121µm. The image shows narrow filamentary structure with striking spatial correlations, but also anti-correlations, with the filamentary structure of extended red emission (ERE), with implications for the mechanism of ERE. Comparison is also made with earlier lower resolution observations at 2.121µm and with 3.3µm continuum emission. On the basis of the VUV excitation mechanism of H₂ vibrational fluorescence and the filamentary nature of the H₂ emission, it is proposed that the surface of the illuminated cloud is characterized by a series of undulations, traced by the emission.