Integral Field Spectroscopy Of The Brightest Knots Of Hh 223 In L723
  HH 223 is the optical counterpart of a larger scale H2 outflow, driven by the
protostellar source VLA 2A, in L723. Its poorly collimated and rather chaotic
morphology suggested the Integral Field Spectroscopy (IFS) as an appropriate
option to map the emission for deriving the physical conditions and the
kinematics. Here we present new results based on the IFS observations made with
the INTEGRAL system at the WHT. The brightest knots of HH 223 (\sim16 arcsec,
0.02 pc at a distance of 300 pc) were mapped with a single pointing in the
spectral range 6200-7700 A. We obtained the emission-line intensity maps for
Halpha, [NII] 6584 A and [SII] 6716, 6731 A, and explored the distribution of
the excitation and electron density from [NII]/Halpha, [SII]/Halpha, and [SII]
6716/6731 line-ratio maps. Maps of the radial velocity field were obtained. We
analysed the 3D-kinematics by combining the knot radial velocities, derived
from IFS data, with the knot proper motions derived from multi-epoch,
narrow-band images. The intensity maps built from IFS data reproduced well the
morphology found in the narrow-band images. We checked the results obtained
from previous long-slit observations with those derived from IFS spectra
extracted with a similar spatial sampling. At the positions intersected by the
slit, the physical conditions and kinematics derived from IFS are compatible
with those derived from long-slit data. In contrast, significant discrepancies
were found when the results from long-slit data were compared with the ones
derived from IFS spectra extracted at positions shifted a few arcsec from those
intersected by the slit. This clearly revealed IFS observations as the best
choice to get a reliable picture of the HH emission properties.
