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arXiv · 1007.0005

H-alpha and Free-Free Emission from the WIM

Ruobing Dong·B. T. Draine
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Abstract

Recent observations have found the ratio of H-alpha to free-free radio continuum to be surprisingly high in the diffuse ionized ISM (the so-called WIM), corresponding to an electron temperature of only ~3000K. Such low temperatures were unexpected in gas that was presumed to be photoionized. We consider a 3-component model for the observed diffuse emission, consisting of a mix of (1) photoionized gas, (2) gas that is recombining and cooling, and (3) cool H I gas. This model can successfully reproduce the observed intensities of free-free continuum, H-alpha, and collisionally-excited lines such as NII 6583. To reproduce the low observed value of free-free to H-alpha, the PAH abundance in the photoionized regions must be lowered by a factor ~3, and ~20% of the diffuse H-alpha must be reflected from dust grains, as suggested by Wood & Reynolds (1999).

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Ruobing Dong, B. T. Draine. 2010-11-15. H-alpha and Free-Free Emission from the WIM. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x%2F727%2F1%2F35

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