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NASA NTRS1975

Molecular hydrogen in the Galaxy and galactic gamma rays

Recent surveys of 2.6-cm CO emission and 100-MeV gamma-radiation in the galactic plane reveal a striking correlation suggesting that both emissions may be primarily proportional to the line-of-sight column density of H2 in the inner Galaxy. Both the gamma-ray and CO data suggest a prominent ring or arm consisting of cool clouds of H2 at a galactocentric distance of about 5 kpc with a mean total hydrogen density equivalent to approximately 5 atoms per cu cm. Estimates are made of column densities of H2 at 0 deg galactic longitude and are compared with estimates from infrared and X-ray absorption measurements. These estimates are all consistent, indicating that H2 is far more abundant than H I in the inner Galaxy and is the key to a more satisfactory explanation of the gamma-ray observations than previous suggestions. The importance of H2 in understanding galactic gamma-ray observations is also reflected in the correlation of galactic-latitude distribution of gamma-rays and dense dust clouds. The deduced cosmic-ray distribution inferred from the calculations is similar to that of galactic supernova remnants, suggesting a galactic origin for most cosmic rays.

Stecker, F. W.↗

NASA NTRS1977

SAS-2 galactic gamma-ray results. 1: Diffuse emission

Continuing analysis of the data from the SAS-2 high energy gamma ray experiment has produced an improved picture of the sky at photon energies above 35 MeV. On a large scale, the diffuse emission from the galactic plane is the dominant feature observed by SAS-2. This galactic plane emission is most intense between galactic longitudes 310 deg and 45 deg, corresponding to a region within 7 kpc of the galactic center. Within the high-intensity region, SAS-2 observes peaks around galactic longitudes 315, 330, 345, 0, and 35 deg. These peaks appear to be correlated with galactic features and components such as molecular hydrogen, atomic hydrogen, magnetic fields, cosmic-ray concentrations, and photon fields.

Thompson, D. J.↗

NASA NTRS1977

An out-of-plane galactic carbon monoxide survey

Galactic CO line emission at 115 GHz has been surveyed in the region from 15 to 60 deg galactic longitude and from about -1.5 to 1.5 deg latitude. In addition to confirming the findings of previous in-plane surveys that galactic CO emission is concentrated in a ring 6 kpc in radius, a fit of a cylindrically symmetric galactic model to the observational data has provided a determination of the thickness of this molecular ring and its displacement from the conventional galactic plane, both as functions of galactocentric distance. The average half-thickness at half-maximum of the molecular ring is 59 pc, and the average displacement of the ring with respect to the galactic equatorial plane is -40 pc.

Cohen, R. S.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Galactic plane gamma radiation

Analysis of the complete data from SAS-2 accentuates the fact that the distribution of galactic gamma radiation has several similarities to that of other large-scale tracers of galactic structure. The gamma radiation shows no statistically significant variation with direction, and the spectrum seen along the plane is the same as that derived for the galactic component of the gamma radiation at high latitude. This uniformity of the energy spectrum, the smooth decrease in intensity as a function of galactic latitude, and the absence of any galactic gamma ray sources at high latitudes argue in favor of a diffuse origin for most of the galactic gamma radiation, rather than a collection of localized sources. All the localized sources identified in the SAS 2 data are associated with known compact objects on the basis of observed periodicities, except gamma195+5 Excluding those SAS 2 sources observed by COS-B and two other excesses (CG 312-1 and CG333+0) visible in the SAS 2 data associated with tangential directions of spiral arms, thera are eight remaining new sources in the COS-B catalog.

Hartman, R. C.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Interstellar scattering, the North Polar Spur, and a possible new class of compact galactic radio sources

Claims for a galactic-latitude dependence of interstellar angular broadening based on interplanetary-scintillation (IPS) observations are investigated. Analysis of the statistics of the angular sizes in an IPS survey shows that there is no evidence for increased angular broadening in the galactic plane. A region of sky about 500 sq deg of arc in area is considered in which significant angular broadening is thought to exist. An association between this region and the nearby North Polar Spur is proposed on the basis of the former's extension off the galactic plane to high latitudes. An evaluation of two-frequency angular-broadening measurements suggests that the data used to support the conclusion about a galactic-latitude dependence are not statistically significant. A study of pulsar data and implications for the angular broadening expected in the interstellar medium for sources at galactic latitudes below + or - 10 deg indicates the possible existence of a previously unsuspected class of compact galactic nonthermal radio sources, designated 'scintars'.

Rickard, J. J.↗

NASA NTRS1981

On the birthrate of galactic supernovae

The birthrate of galactic supernovae is estimated in three different ways. The three ranges overlap, and it is suggested that 70 + or - 35 yr represents a more realistic estimate of the rate than some that have previously been made. The galactic supernova remnants and their observed systematic brightness gradients perpendicular to the galactic plane imply a scale height of about 200 pc for the remnant progenitors and a galactic magnetic field scale height of about 300 pc. Long standing anomalies associated with the young remnant AD 1006, the galactic loops, and faint remnants, are accounted for by the brightness gradient effect. This provides firm, independent evidence for the validity of the remnant method of deducing the birthrate of galactic supernovae.

Lerche, I.↗

NASA NTRS1988

X-ray observations of the Galactic center by Spartan 1

The results of Spartan 1 X-ray observations of the region within 1.25 deg of the Galactic center are presented. Four strong, hard X-ray point sources were detected: A1742-294, 1E 1740.7-2942, IE 1743.1-2843, and a new source SP 1744.2-2959 about 0.5 deg southeast of A1742-294. The new source had an intensity about 20 percent of that of A1742-294 and was relatively hard, having spectral parameters close to those of the diffuse source and of the Galactic bulge source GX 3+1. The Galactic nucleus X-ray source appears to have been a factor of four fainter during the 1985 Spartan 1 observations than during the 1979 Einstein observations. Hard, diffuse X-ray emission centered near the Galactic center, about 1 deg in extent, aligned to within 20 deg of the Galactic equator, and having a maximum 2-10 keV brightness of 1.5 x 10 to the -6th ergs/sq cm/s/sr was detected, as were two weaker point sources about 0.1 deg northeast and southeast of the Galactic nucleus, embedded in the diffuse emission.

Kawai, N.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Implications of the IRAS data for galactic gamma ray astronomy and EGRET

Using the results of gamma-ray, millimeter wave and far surveys of the galaxy, logically consistent picture of the large scale distribution of galactic gas and cosmic rays was derived, tied to the overall processes of stellar birth and destruction on a galactic scale. Using the results of the IRAS far-infrared survey of te galaxy, the large scale radial distributions of galactic far-infrared emission independently was obtained for both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere sides of the Galaxy. The dominant feature in these distributions was found to be a broad peak coincident with the 5 kpc molecular gas cloud ring. Evidence was found for spiral arm features. Strong correlations are evident between the large scale galactic distributions of far-infrared emission, gamma-ray emission and total CO emission. There is particularly tight correlation between the distribution of warm molecular clouds and far-infrared emission on a galactic scale. The 5 kpc ring was evident in existing galactic gamma-ray data. The extent to which the more detailed spiral arm features are evident in the more resolved EGRET (Energetic Gamma-Ray Experimental Telescope) data will help to determine more precisely the propagation characteristics of cosmic rays.

Stecker, Floyd W.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Low-temperature Galactic fountains

Analytic and one- and two-dimensional hydrodynamic calculations are performed to determine whether or not the Galactic fountain model can explain observations of neutral gas in the Galactic halo. Galactic halo gasdynamics are examined, including thermal conduction, Galactic rotation, and Galactic fountains. Results are presented from numerical modeling of low-temperature Galactic fountains. It is found that the best reproduction of the observations is provided by a model near the transonic regime with a temperature and density at the base of the fountain of 300,000 K and 0.001/cu cm, respectively. The cooling time for the hot gas is 33 million yr and the time for newly formed clouds to return to the disk is 47 million yr, neglecting drag forces.

Houck, John C.↗

NASA NTRS1992

IRAS and the Boston University Arecibo Galactic H I Survey: A catalog of cloud properties

The Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) Galactic Plane Surface Brightness Images were used to identify infrared emission associated with cool, diffuse H I clouds detected by the Boston University-Arecibo Galactic H I Survey. These clouds are associated with galactic star clusters, H II regions, and molecular clouds. Using emission-absorption experiments toward galactic H II regions, we determined the H I properties of cool H I clouds seen in absorption against the thermal continuum, including their kinematic distances. Correlations were then made between IRAS sources and these H II regions, thus some of the spatial confusion associated with the IRAS fields near the galactic plane was resolved since the distances to these sources was known. Because we can also correlate the BU-Arecibo clouds with existing CO surveys, these results will allow us to determine the intrinsic properties of the gas (neutral and ionized atomic as well as molecular) and dust for interstellar clouds in the inner galaxy. For the IRAS-identified H II region sample, we have established the far infrared (FIR) luminosities and galactic distribution of these sources.

Bania, Thomas M.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Gamma-ray burst constraints on the galactic frequency of extra-solar Oort clouds

With the strong CGRO/BATSE evidence that most gamma-ray bursts do not come from galactic neutron stars, models involving the accretion of a comet onto a neutron star (NS) no longer appear to be strong contenders for explaining the majority of bursts. If this is the case, then it is worth asking whether the lack of an observed galactic gamma-ray burst population provides a useful constraint on the number of comets and comet clouds in the galaxy. Owing to the previously unrecognized structural weakness of cometary nuclei, we find the capture cross sections for comet-NS events to be much higher than previously published estimates, with tidal breakup at distances R(sub b) approximately equals to 4 x 10(exp 10) cm from the NS. As a result, impacts of comets onto field NS's penetrating the Oort Clouds of other stars are found to dominate all other galactic NS-comet capture rates by a factor of 100. This in turn predicts that if comet clouds are common, there should be a significant population of repeater sources with (1) a galactic distribution, (2) space-correlated repetition, and (3) a wide range of peak luminosities and luminosity time histories. If all main sequences stars have Oort Clouds like our own, we predict approximately 4000 such repeater sources in the Milky Way at any time, each repeating on timescales of months to years. Based on estimates of the sensitivity of the CGRO/BATSE instrument and assuming isotropic gamma-ray beaming from such events, we estimate that a population of approximately 20-200 of these galactic NS-Oort Cloud gamma-ray repeater sources should be detectable by CGRO. In addition, if giant planet formation is common in the galaxy, we estimate that the accretion of isolated comets injected to the interstellar medium by giant planet formation should produce an additional source of galactic, nonrepeating events. Comparing these estimates to the three to four soft gamma-ray repeater sources detected by BATSE, one is forced to conclude that (1) comet impacts on NS's are inefficient at producing gamma-rays; or (2) the gamma-rays from such events are highly beamed; or (3) the fraction of stars in the galaxy with Oort Cloud like our own is not higher than a few percent.

Shull, J. Michael↗

NASA NTRS1995

Gamma-ray burst constraints on the galactic frequency of extrasolar Oort Clouds

With the strong Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory/Burst and Transient Source Experiment (CGRO/BATSE) evidence that most gamma-ray bursts do not come from galactic neutron stars, models involving the accretion of a comet onto a neutron star (NS) no longer appear to be strong contenders for explaining the majority of bursts. If this is the case, then it is worth asking whether the lack of an observed galactic gamma-ray burst population provides a useful constraint on the number of comets and comet clouds in the galaxy. Owing to the previously unrecognized structural weakness of cometary nuclei, we find the capture cross sections for comet-NS events to be much higher than previously published estimates, with tidal breakup at distances R(sub b) approx. equals 4 x 10(exp 10) cm from the NS. As a result, impacts of comets onto field NSs penetrating the Oort Clouds of other stars are found to dominate all other galactic NS-comet capture rates by a factor of 100. This in turn predicts that if comet clouds are common, there should be a significant population of repeater sources with (1) a galactic distribution, (2) space-correlated repetition, and (3) a wide range of peak luminosities and luminosity time histories. If all main sequence stars have Oort Clouds like our own, we predict approximately 4000 such repeater sources in the Milky Way at any time, each repeating on time scales of months to years. Based on estimates of the sensitivity of the CGRO/BATSE instrument and assuming isotropic gamma-ray beaming from such events, we estimate that a population of approximately 20-200 of these galactic NS-Oort Cloud gamma-ray repeater sources should be detectable by CGRO. In addition, if giant planet formation is common in the galaxy, we estimate that the accretion of isolated comets injected to the interstellar medium by giant planet formation should produce an additional source of galactic, nonrepeating, events. Comparing these estimates to the 3-4 soft gamma-ray repeater sources detected by BATSE, one is forced to conclude that (1) comet impacts on NSs are inefficient at producing gamma rays; or (2) the gamma rays from such events are highly beamed; or (3) the fraction of stars in the galaxy with Oort Clouds like our own is not higher than a few percent.

Shull, J. Michael↗

NASA NTRS1995

The 16-45 micron observations of the Galactic Center

Existing observations of the Galactic Center at infrared and radio wavelengths challenge our understanding of the detailed morphology and energy balance of the inner few parsec, including the Galactic Center and the infrared torus. The distribution and nature of the sources heating this region are still not well understood; existing determinations of dust temperature and ionization do not provide us with consistent pictures of the relative important of the central source and the embedded stars in this dusty region. The composite IR emission of the Galactic Center can be crudely divided into three categories: (1) hot dust heated directly by an incident UV field along the inner region of the Galactic Center torus; (2) warm dust heated by te non-ionizing radiation of the embedded stars and re-radiated NIR dust emission; (3) cooler absorbing dust located along the galactic line of sight. The apparent inconsistencies between the observations and theoretical expectations may stem from the interplay of various physical process and source-cloud geometries. Observations with increased spatial and spectral resolution are clearly needed to provide the information necessary to address the various problems. Therefore, we made 15-45 micron spectrophotometric observations of the inner 80 min (3 pc) regions surrounding the Galactic Center with the 20 min aperture of Goddard Cryogenic Grating Spectrometer No. 2 in May 1994 from the KAO. We measured nine points, including the 50 and 90 micron peaks of Davidson et al. and points between them and SgrA,. The wavelength coverage of our instrument ensures sensitivity to the hot dust component, silicate emission and/or absorption features, and cooler dust at longer wavelengths. Our observations will be used to set limits on the luminosity of any central sources, or give an independent estimate of central luminosity, and to set limits on the range of acceptable dust parameters for this region.

Chan, Kin-Wing↗

NASA NTRS1995

Large-Scale Structures in the Zone of Avoidance: The Galactic Anticenter Region

We have selected a sample of 876 galaxy candidates from the IRAS Point Source Catalog in the region of 2(exp h) < alpha < 10(exp h) and 0 deg < delta < 36 deg, which crosses the Galactic anticenter part of the Zone of Avoidance (ZOA) and includes most of the highly obscured Orion-Taurus complex region. We have identified galaxies among the candidate sources by attempting to detect the 21 cm H I line of those sources which were not known to be galaxies at the beginning of the survey. In this manner, we constructed a galaxy sample which is largely free from Galactic reddening. Of the 272 observed candidates, 89 were detected in the H I line up to a heliocentric velocity of v(sub h) approximately 16,000 km/s. The resulting galaxy sample of 717 galaxies is fairly complete (within about 10%) and uniform (within about 4%) in the part of the survey area 10 deg away from the Galactic plane and for velocities up to at least 9000 km/s. This provides, for the first time, a largely unbiased view on the large-scale structures in much of the survey area. Our main results are the following: (1) Several large voids are identified. In particular, a void between alpha approximately equals 3(sup h) and 4(sup h), up to v(sub h) approximately 6000 km/s, separates the Pisces-Perseus supercluster at alpha < 3(sup h) from structures at alpha > 4(sup h); and a "nearby void" occupies most of our survey area and reaches out to a redshift of nearly 3000 km/s. (2) We found no nearby galaxy concentration that could significantly contribute to the "Local Velocity Anomoly" (LVA), but a general excess of galaxies around v(sub h) approximately 5000 km/s in the survey area. (3) The contrast between the "Great Wall" at v(sub h) approximately 8500 km/s and the void in front of it appears to gradually diffuse out after it enters the Zone of Avoidance from the northern Galactic hemisphere. (4) Our data combined with other galaxy surveys in or near the Galactic anticenter part of the ZOA suggest that the main ridge of the Pisces-Perseus supercluster does not extend to Abell 569, a cluster in the northern Galactic hemisphere, and that the simple gravitational model consisting of the Local Void of Tully & Fisher, our nearby void, and Puppis and Fornax-Eridanus clusters would predict a LVA whose direction is probably too far away from that derived from observations.

Lu, Nanyao Y.↗

NASA NTRS2024

Soft X-ray Energy Spectra in the Wide-Field Galactic Disk Area Revealed with HaloSat

We analyzed data from HaloSat observations for five fields in the Galactic disk located far away from the Galactic center (135° < l < 254°) to understand the nature of soft X-ray energy emission in the Galactic disk. The fields have 14° diameter and were selected to contain no significant high-flux X-ray sources. All five HaloSat soft X-ray energy spectra (0.4–7 keV with energy resolution of < 100 eV below 1 keV) show a possibility of the presence of unresolved high-temperature plasma in the Galactic disk (UHTPGD) with a temperature of 0.8–1.0 keV and an emission measure of (8–11) × 10 −4 cm −6 pc in addition to the soft X-ray diffuse background components mainly studied at higher Galactic latitudes (solar wind charge exchange emission, Local Hot Bubble, Milky Way halo emission, and the cosmic X-ray background). This suggests that the UHTPGD is present across the whole Galactic disk. We also observed UHTPGD emission in a region with no bright sources in an XMM-Newton field contained within one of the HaloSat fields. The temperature and emission measure are consistent with those measured with HaloSat. Moreover, the stacked spectra of the X-ray pointlike sources and near-infrared-identified point sources such as stars in the XMM-Newton field also show a spectral feature similar to the UHTPGD emission. This suggests that the UHTPGD may partly originate from pointlike sources such as stars.

X-rays: diffuse background↗

NASA NTRS1973

Observations of diffuse galactic H alpha and forbidden N II emission

A study has been made of the intensities and radial velocities of faint galactic H alpha and forbidden N II 6584-emission lines not associated with any known bright H II regions. Although some (about 10%) of the observed radiation may be scattered galactic light from bright H II regions in the galactic plane, most of the radiation appears to be produced by an ionized component of the interstellar gas which is distributed throughout the interstellar medium within the three nearby galactic spiral arms. In the local Orion arm the emitting gas has a temperature between 3000 and 8000 K and mean square electron density approximately equal to 0.05 cm to the minus 6th power in the galactic plane, while in the Perseus and Sagittarius arms the mean square electron density is equal to about 0.1 and 0.9 cm to the minus 6th power, respectively.

Reynolds, R. J.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Gamma-rays, cosmic rays, and galactic structure

The relation of SAS-2 observations of galactic gamma-rays to the large scale distribution of cosmic rays and interstellar gas in the galaxy is reviewed. Starting with a discussion of production rates, the case for pion decay being the predominant production mechanism in the galactic disk above 100 MeV is reestablished, and it is also pointed out that Compton gamma-rays can be a significant source near l = 0. The concepts of four distinct galactic regions are defined, viz. the nebulodisk, ectodisk, radiodisk and exodisk. Bremsstrahlung and pion decay gamma-rays are associated with the first two (primarily the first) regions, and Compton gamma-rays and synchrotron radiation are associated with the latter two regions. On a large scale, the cosmic rays, interstellar gas (primarily H2 clouds in the inner galaxy) and gamma-ray emissivity all peak between 5 and 6 kpc from the galactic center. This correlation is related to correlation with other population I phenomena and is discussed in terms of the density wave concept of galactic structure.

Stecker, F. W.↗

NASA NTRS1976

The structure and content of the galaxy and galactic gamma rays

Papers are presented dealing with galactic structure drawing on all branches of galactic astronomy with emphasis on the implications of the new gamma ray observations. Topics discussed include: (1) results from the COS-B gamma ray satellite; (2) results from SAS-2 on gamma ray pulsar, Cygnus X-3, and maps of the galactic diffuse flux; (3) recent data from CO surveys of the galaxy; (4) high resolution radio surveys of external galaxies; (5) results on the galactic distribution of pulsars; and (6) theoretical work on galactic gamma ray emission.

Fichtel, C. E.↗