scholarly journals Quantifying the Magnetic Alignment of Hi and Dust in the Diffuse ISM

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (S315) ◽  
Author(s):  
S.E. Clark ◽  
J.E.G. Peek ◽  
J. Colin Hill ◽  
M.E. Putman
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Molecular Clouds ◽  
Dust Emission ◽  
Neutral Hydrogen ◽  
Magnetic Alignment ◽  
Galactic Latitude ◽  
Linear Features ◽  
Filamentary Structure ◽  
High Galactic Latitude ◽  
Vision Algorithm

AbstractSensitive, high resolution observations of Galactic neutral hydrogen (Hi) reveal an intricate network of slender linear features, much as sensitive surveys of dust in Galactic molecular clouds reveal ubiquitous filamentary structure. Across the high Galactic latitude sky, diffuse Histructures are aligned with the interstellar magnetic field, as revealed by background starlight polarization (Clark, Peek, & Putman 2014) and by Planck 353 GHz polarized dust emission (Clark et al. 2015). These discoveries were enabled by the Rolling Hough Transform, a recently developed, open source machine vision algorithm.

scholarly journals Diffuse molecular clouds at high galactic latitude

1991 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
pp. 29-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald Stark
Keyword(s):  
Fine Structure ◽  
Molecular Clouds ◽  
Line Emission ◽  
Flux Ratio ◽  
Continuum Emission ◽  
Galactic Latitude ◽  
Filamentary Structure ◽  
High Galactic Latitude ◽  
O 63 ◽  
High Dust

The IRAS 60 and 100 μm flux from cirrus clouds are commonly explained by dust continuum emission. But this explanation in some cases requires unexpectedly high dust temperatures.We argue that the contribution of fine structure emission of neutral oxygen, O°(63 μm), can be significant in the IRAS 60 μm band. The 0°(63 μm) line emission together with the dust continuum emission offers a plausible explanation of the observed flux ratio I(60)/I(100), as well as of its variation across individual clouds. We also discuss the clumpy/filamentary structure of these clouds.

scholarly journals Diffuse molecular clouds at high galactic latitude

1991 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
pp. 29-35
Author(s):  
Ronald Stark
Keyword(s):  
Fine Structure ◽  
Molecular Clouds ◽  
Line Emission ◽  
Flux Ratio ◽  
Continuum Emission ◽  
Galactic Latitude ◽  
Filamentary Structure ◽  
High Galactic Latitude ◽  
O 63 ◽  
High Dust

The IRAS 60 and 100 μm flux from cirrus clouds are commonly explained by dust continuum emission. But this explanation in some cases requires unexpectedly high dust temperatures.We argue that the contribution of fine structure emission of neutral oxygen, O°(63 μm), can be significant in the IRAS 60 μm band. The 0°(63 μm) line emission together with the dust continuum emission offers a plausible explanation of the observed flux ratio I(60)/I(100), as well as of its variation across individual clouds. We also discuss the clumpy/filamentary structure of these clouds.

scholarly journals Could bow-shaped magnetic morphologies surround filamentary molecular clouds?

2019 ◽  
Vol 632 ◽  
pp. A68 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Tahani ◽  
R. Plume ◽  
J. C. Brown ◽  
J. D. Soler ◽  
J. Kainulainen
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Monte Carlo ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Faraday Rotation ◽  
Molecular Clouds ◽  
Monte Carlo Analysis ◽  
Line Of Sight ◽  
Field Reversal ◽  
Filamentary Structure ◽  
Western Side

Context. A new method based on Faraday rotation measurements recently found the line-of-sight component of magnetic fields in Orion-A and showed that their direction changes from the eastern side of this filamentary structure to its western side. Three possible magnetic field morphologies that can explain this reversal across the Orion-A region are toroidal, helical, and bow-shaped morphologies. Aims. In this paper, we constructed simple models to represent these three morphologies and compared them with the available observational data to find the most probable morphology(ies). Methods. We compared the observations with the models and used probability values and a Monte Carlo analysis to determine the most likely magnetic field morphology among these three morphologies. Results. We found that the bow morphology had the highest probability values, and that our Monte-Carlo analysis suggested that the bow morphology was more likely. Conclusions. We suggest that the bow morphology is the most likely and the most natural of the three morphologies that could explain a magnetic field reversal across the Orion-A filamentary structure (i.e., bow, helical and toroidal morphologies).

scholarly journals Structure formation in a colliding flow: The Herschel view of the Draco nebula

2017 ◽  
Vol 599 ◽  
pp. A109 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.-A. Miville-Deschênes ◽  
Q. Salomé ◽  
P. G. Martin ◽  
G. Joncas ◽  
K. Blagrave ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Dissipation ◽  
Molecular Clouds ◽  
Turbulent Energy ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Neutral Medium ◽  
Galactic Latitude ◽  
High Galactic Latitude ◽  
Dissipation Scale ◽  
Scale Structures ◽  
Small Scale Structures

Context. The Draco nebula is a high Galactic latitude interstellar cloud observed at velocities corresponding to the intermediate velocity cloud regime. This nebula shows unusually strong CO emission and remarkably high-contrast small-scale structures for such a diffuse high Galactic latitude cloud. The 21 cm emission of the Draco nebula reveals that it is likely to have been formed by the collision of a cloud entering the disk of the Milky Way. Such physical conditions are ideal to study the formation of cold and dense gas in colliding flows of diffuse and warm gas. Aims. The objective of this study is to better understand the process of structure formation in a colliding flow and to describe the effects of matter entering the disk on the interstellar medium. Methods. We conducted Herschel-SPIRE observations of the Draco nebula. The clumpfind algorithm was used to identify and characterize the small-scale structures of the cloud. Results. The high-resolution SPIRE map reveals the fragmented structure of the interface between the infalling cloud and the Galactic layer. This front is characterized by a Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability structure. From the determination of the typical length of the periodic structure (2.2 pc) we estimated the gas kinematic viscosity. This allowed us to estimate the dissipation scale of the warm neutral medium (0.1 pc), which was found to be compatible with that expected if ambipolar diffusion were the main mechanism of turbulent energy dissipation. The statistical properties of the small-scale structures identified with clumpfind are found to be typical of that seen in molecular clouds and hydrodynamical turbulence in general. The density of the gas has a log-normal distribution with an average value of 103 cm-3. The typical size of the structures is 0.1−0.2 pc, but this estimate is limited by the resolution of the observations. The mass of these structures ranges from 0.2 to 20 M⊙ and the distribution of the more massive structures follows a power-law dN/ dlog (M) ~ M-1.4. We identify a mass-size relation with the same exponent as that found in molecular clouds (M ~ L2.3). On the other hand, we found that only 15% of the mass of the cloud is in gravitationally bound structures. Conclusions. We conclude that the collision of diffuse gas from the Galactic halo with the diffuse interstellar medium of the outer layer of the disk is an efficient mechanism for producing dense structures. The increase of pressure induced by the collision is strong enough to trigger the formation of cold neutral medium out of the warm gas. It is likely that ambipolar diffusion is the mechanism dominating the turbulent energy dissipation. In that case the cold structures are a few times larger than the energy dissipation scale. The dense structures of Draco are the result of the interplay between magnetohydrodynamical turbulence and thermal instability as self-gravity is not dominating the dynamics. Interestingly they have properties typical of those found in more classical molecular clouds.

scholarly journals Interstellar magnetic cannon targeting the Galactic halo

2018 ◽  
Vol 617 ◽  
pp. A101 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.-F. Robitaille ◽  
A. M. M. Scaife ◽  
E. Carretti ◽  
M. Haverkorn ◽  
R. M. Crocker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Galactic Halo ◽  
Galactic Plane ◽  
Dust Emission ◽  
Galactic Centre ◽  
Gas Flows ◽  
Galactic Latitude ◽  
High Galactic Latitude ◽  
X Ray ◽  
North West ◽  
Hot Gas

We report the detection of a new Galactic bubble at the interface between the halo and the Galactic disc. We suggest that the nearby Lupus complex and parts of the Ophiuchus complex constitute the denser parts of the structure. This young bubble, ≲3 Myr old, could be the remnant of a supernova and it expands inside a larger HI loop that has been created by the outflows of the Upper Scorpius OB association. An HI cavity filled with hot X-ray gas is associated with the structure, which is consistent with the Galactic chimney scenario. The X-ray emission extends beyond the west and north-west edges of the bubble, suggesting that hot gas outflows are breaching the cavity, possibly through the fragmented Lupus complex. Analyses of the polarised radio synchrotron and of the polarised dust emission of the region suggest the connection of the Galactic centre spur with the young Galactic bubble. A distribution of HI clumps that spatially corresponds well to the cavity boundaries was found at VLSR ≃−100 km s−1. Some of these HI clumps are forming jets, which may arise from the fragmented part of the bubble. We suggest that these clumps might be “dripping” cold clouds from the shell walls inside the cavity that is filled with hot ionised gas. It is possible that some of these clumps are magnetised and were then accelerated by the compressed magnetic field at the edge of the cavity. Such a mechanism would challenge the Galactic accretion and fountain model, where high-velocity clouds are considered to be formed at high Galactic latitude from hot gas flows from the Galactic plane.

scholarly journals Revisiting the Distance to Radio Loops I and IV Using Gaia and Radio/Optical Polarization Data

2021 ◽  
Vol 922 (2) ◽  
pp. 210
Author(s):  
G. V. Panopoulou ◽  
C. Dickinson ◽  
A. C. S. Readhead ◽  
T. J. Pearson ◽  
M. W. Peel
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Galactic Center ◽  
Classical Method ◽  
Dust Emission ◽  
Galactic Latitude ◽  
Synchrotron Emission ◽  
Optical Polarization ◽  
The North ◽  
Significant Alignment ◽  
North Polar

Abstract Galactic synchrotron emission exhibits large angular scale features known as radio spurs and loops. Determining the physical size of these structures is important for understanding the local interstellar structure and for modeling the Galactic magnetic field. However, the distance to these structures is either under debate or entirely unknown. We revisit a classical method of finding the location of radio spurs by comparing optical polarization angles with those of synchrotron emission as a function of distance. We consider three tracers of the magnetic field: stellar polarization, polarized synchrotron radio emission, and polarized thermal dust emission. We employ archival measurements of optical starlight polarization and Gaia distances and construct a new map of polarized synchrotron emission from WMAP and Planck data. We confirm that synchrotron, dust emission, and stellar polarization angles all show a statistically significant alignment at high Galactic latitude. We obtain distance limits to three regions toward Loop I of 112 ± 17 pc, 135 ± 20 pc, and <105 pc. Our results strongly suggest that the polarized synchrotron emission toward the North Polar Spur at b > 30° is local. This is consistent with the conclusions of earlier work based on stellar polarization and extinction, but in stark contrast with the Galactic center origin recently revisited on the basis of X-ray data. We also obtain a distance measurement toward part of Loop IV (180 ± 15 pc) and find evidence that its synchrotron emission arises from chance overlap of structures located at different distances. Future optical polarization surveys will allow the expansion of this analysis to other radio spurs.

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