The Orion fingers: Near-IR spectral imaging of an explosive outflow
  We present near-IR (1.1-2.4 micron) position-position-velocity cubes of the
500-year-old Orion BN/KL explosive outflow with spatial resolution 1" and
spectral resolution 86 km/s. We construct integrated intensity maps free of
continuum sources of 15 H2 and [Fe II] lines while preserving kinematic
information of individual outflow features. Included in the detected H2 lines
are the 1-0 S(1) and 1-0 Q(3) transitions, allowing extinction measurements
across the outflow. Additionally, we present dereddened flux ratios for over
two dozen outflow features to allow for the characterization of the true
excitation conditions of the BN/KL outflow. All ratios show the dominance of
shock excitation of the H2 emission, although some features exhibit signs of
fluorescent excitation from stellar radiation or J-type shocks. We also detect
tracers of the PDR/ionization front north of the Trapezium stars in [O I] and
[Fe II] and analyze other observed outflows not associated with the BN/KL
outflow.
