2002ApJS..140..407W

An atlas of ultraviolet interstellar absorption-line profiles toward four stars in the Carina Nebula is presented. The observations have been made with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope, with a resolving power of 114,000. Low-ionization, high-ionization, and excited-state lines from a wide array of chemical species are included. Extensive measurements of radial velocities, velocity dispersions, and column densities of individual components in these profiles are also given. The unprecedented capabilities of STIS reveal many more velocity components than previously known; most of the high-velocity components in previous observations with the International Ultraviolet Explorer are now resolved into multiple subcomponents, and even higher velocities are seen. The great range of line strengths available permits the detection of the low-velocity components in the weakest lines, and progressively higher velocities in stronger lines (in which the low-velocity components become completely blended). The weak and high-ionization lines trace global structure in the H II region, while the strong low-ionization lines show intricate high-velocity structure that likely originates relatively near to the O stars observed. The extreme velocities found in the low-ionization lines toward these four stars are -388 and +127 km.s^–1, with 23-26 resolved components in each. Some components in different stars may be related, but many are different in each line of sight. A remarkably well-defined Routly-Spitzer effect is found in this region. Temporal variations toward one star observed twice have already been reported. These measurements will be used in subsequent astrophysical analyses to further constrain the origins of the phenomena.