Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) and Paschen-Alpha Imaging Survey of NGC 2024 with FLITECAM

We present preliminary results from an imaging survey of NGC 2024 using the 1-5 micron FLITECAM instrument on the SOFIA telescope. NGC 2024, the Flame Nebula, is a nearby bright star formation region within the larger Orion B molecular cloud. NGC 2024 includes several hundred stars, rich dust lanes and bright gas emission. Our FLITECAM images cover roughly ~8’x8’ and span the majority of emission in the nebula. The observations utilize three narrow band filters to cover the 3.3 micron PAH feature and the 1.87 micron Paschen-alpha feature, as well as the associated Paschen-alpha continuum filter. Mapping the PAH and Paschen-alpha emission provides insight into the dust grain sizes, molecular emission, as well as the strength of the ionization field. Our maps show that the PAH emission is spatially distinct from the Paschen-alpha emission. Here we illustrate those results and discuss their physical implications.