arXiv subjects

P. M. W. Kalberla

Publications and source records attributed to P. M. W. Kalberla.

48 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2002

The soft X-ray background towards the northern sky. A detailed analysis of the Milky Way halo

We present a correlation analysis of the diffuse X-ray background emission of the ROSAT all-sky survey with the Leiden/Dwingeloo 21-cm HI line survey. We derive a consistent model for the diffuse X-ray background emission over about 50% of the sky. Only three diffuse X-ray components are necessary to fit the ROSAT data from 0.1 keV to 2.4 keV: a) the Local Hot Bubble, b) the Milky Way Halo, and c) the extragalactic X-ray background. Only one temperature of the hot coronal gas in the Milky Way Halo is needed. Our model predicts, that a major fraction of the 1/4 keV and about 50% of the 3/4 keV diffuse X-ray emission originates from the Milky Way Halo. We detect a difference between the intensities towards the Galactic center and its anti-center, which is consistent with the electron density distribution independently derived from pulsar dispersion measurements.

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arXiv2001

The Diversity of High- and Intermediate-Velocity Clouds: Complex C versus IV Arch

We present Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) and Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) observations of interstellar ultraviolet absorption lines in the Galactic high-velocity cloud Complex C and the Intermediate Velocity Arch (IV Arch) in direction of the quasar PG 1259+593 (l=120,b=+58 deg). Absorption lines from CII, NI, NII, OI, AlII, SiII, PII, SII, ArI, FeII, and FeIII are used to study the atomic abundances in these two halo clouds at V_LSR=-130 km/s (Complex C) and V_LSR=-55 km/s (IV Arch). The OI/HI ratio provides the best measure of the overall metallicity in the diffuse interstellar medium, because ionization effects do not alter the ratio, and oxygen is at most only lightly depleted from the gas into dust grains. For Complex C, we find an oxygen abundance of 0.093 (+0.125, -0.047) solar, consistent with the idea that Complex C represents the infall of low metallicity gas onto the Milky Way. In contrast, the oxygen abundance in the IV Arch is 0.98 (+1.21,-0.46) solar, which indicates a Galactic origin. We report the detection of an intermediate- velocity absorption component at +60 km/s that is not seen in HI 21cm emission. The clouds along the PG 1259+593 sight line have a variety of properties, proving that multiple processes are responsible for the creation and circulation of intermediate- and high-velocity gas in the Milky Way halo.

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arXiv2001

HI spectra and column densities toward HVC and IVC probes

We show 21-cm line profiles in the direction of stars and extragalactic objects, lying projected on high- and intermediate-velocity clouds (HVCs and IVCs). About half of these are from new data obtained with the Effelsberg 100-m telescope, about a quarter are extracted from the Leiden-Dwingeloo Survey (LDS) and the remaining quarter were observed with other single-dish telescopes. HI column densities were determined for each HVC/IVC. Wakker (2001) (Paper I) uses these in combination with optical and ultraviolet high-resolution measurements to derive abundances. Here, an analysis is given of the difference and ratio of N(HI) as observed with a 9 arcmin versus a 35 arcmin beam. For HVCs and IVCs the ratio N(HI-9 arcmin)/N(HI-35 arcmin) lies in the range 0.2-2.5. For low-velocity gas this ratio ranges from 0.75 to 1.3 (the observed ratio is 0.85-1.4, but it appears that the correction for stray radiation is slightly off). The smaller range for the low-velocity gas may be caused by confusion in the line of sight, so that a low ratio in one component can be compensated by a high ratio in another -- for 11 low-velocity clouds fit by one component the distribution of ratios has a larger dispersion. Comparison with higher angular resolution data is possible for sixteen sightlines. Eight sightlines with HI data at 1 arcmin-2 arcmin resolution show a range of 0.75-1.25 for N(HI-2 arcmin)/N(HI-9 arcmin), while in eight other sightlines N(HI-Ly-alpha)/N(HI-9 arcmin) ranges from 0.74 to 0.98.

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arXiv2000

The FUSE Spectrum of PG0804+761: A Study of Atomic and MolecularGas in the Lower Galactic Halo and Beyond

We present an analysis of interstellar and intergalactic absorption lines in the FUSE spectrum of the low-redshift quasar PG0804+761 (z=0.100) at intermediate resolution (FWHM=25 km/s) in the direction l=138.3, b=31.0. With a good signal-to-noise ratio and the presence of several interesting Galactic and extragalactic absorption components along the sight line, this spectrum provides a good opportunity to demonstrate the ability of FUSE to do both interstellar and extragalactic science. Although the spectrum of PG0804+761 is dominated by strong absorption from local Galactic gas, we concentrate our study on absorption by molecular hydrogen and neutral neutral and ionized metals related to an intermediate-velocity cloud in the lower Galactic halo at -55 km/s, and on absorption from OVI extended to negative velocities. In the IVC, weak molecular hydrogen absorption is found in 5 lines for rotational levels 0 and 1, leading to a total H_2 column density of log N = 14.71(+-0.30). We derive an OI gas-phase abundance for the IVC of 1.03(+0.71-0.42) solar. Absorption by OVI is found at velocities as negative as -110 km/s, but no absorption from any species is found at velocities of -180 km/ where absorption from the nearby high-velocity Complex A would be expected. We suggest that the extended OVI absorption traces hot gas above the Perseus spiral arm. Finally, we find intergalactic absorption by an intervening HI Ly betax absorber at z=0.019 and absorption by HI, CIII and OVI in an associated system at z=0.102. No intervening OVI absorbers are seen in the spectrum of PG0804+761.

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arXiv2000

The head-tail structure of high-velocity clouds - A survey of the northern sky

We present new observational results on high-velocity clouds (HVCs) based on an analysis of the Leiden/Dwingeloo HI survey. We cataloged all HVCs with NHI > 1 10^19 cm^-2 and found 252 clouds that form a representative flux limited sample. The detailed analysis of each individual HVC in this sample revealed a significant number of HVCs (nearly 20%) having simultaneously a velocity and a column density gradient. These HVCs have a cometary appearance in the position-velocity representation and are called henceforward head-tail HVCs (HT HVCs). The head is the region with the highest column density of the HVC, while the column density of the tail is in general much lower (by a factor of 2 - 4). The absolute majority of the cataloged HVCs belongs to the well known HVC complexes. With exception of the very faint HVC complex L, all HVC complexes contain HT HVCs. The HT HVCs were analyzed statistically with respect to their physical parameters like position, velocity (v_LSR,v_GSR), and column density. We found a linear correlation between the fraction of HVCs having a head-tail structure and the peak column density of the HVCs. While there is no correlation between the fraction of HT HVCs and v_LSR, we found a dependence of the fraction of HT HVCs and v_GSR. There is no significant correlation between the fraction of HT HVCs and the parameters galactic longitude and latitude. The HT HVCs may be interpreted as HVCs that are currently interacting with their ambient medium. In the context of this model the tails represent material that is stripped off from the HVC core. We discuss the implications of this model for galactic and extragalactic HVCs.

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arXiv1999

H2 dark matter in the galactic halo from EGRET

We present a model for the interpretation of the gamma-ray background emission from the Galactic halo, which we attribute to interaction of high-energy cosmic rays with dense molecular clumps. In a wide range of clump parameters we calculate the expected gamma-photon flux, taking into account for the first time optical depth effects. This allows us to derive new constraints on masses and sizes of possible molecular clumps and their contribution to the galactic surface density. The observed gamma-ray distribution can be explained best by models with a flattened halo distribution of axis ratio ~ 0.3. If optical depth effects are important, the clumps must have radii of ~ 6 AU and masses of ~ 10^{-3} M_sun. This would result in a total mass of ~ 2 10^{11} M_sun for such clumps and contribute with Sigma ~ 140 M_sun pc^{-2} to the local surface density.

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arXiv1999

The Interstellar Environment of Filled-Center Supernova Remnants III: The Crab Nebula

The HI environment of the Crab Nebula is investigated using 2.75' and 9' resolution data from (respectively) the DRAO Synthesis, and Effelsberg 100 m, radio telescopes. No clear evidence for an interaction between the Crab and the surrounding HI is found; the Crab probably lies within the boundaries of a large scale, low-density void in the HI distribution. The presence of a wind-blown HI bubble near the Crab is confirmed, and it is suggested that the unidentified star which powers this bubble is responsible for the stellar wind material detected along the line of sight towards the Crab.

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arXiv1998

Soft X-rays from High-Velocity Clouds

The ROSAT mission gave us the unique possibility to study the galactic interstellar medium by ``shadowing'' observations on arcmin angular resolution level. The high sensitivity of the ROSAT PSPC in combination with the large field of view allows the detailed study of individual clouds, while the ROSAT all-sky survey is the main source for studies of the large-scale intensity distribution of the diffuse soft X-ray emission. We show that neutral hydrogen clouds are associated with soft X-ray emission, E(X-ray) < 3/4 keV. These neutral hydrogen clouds, known as high-velocity clouds (HVCs), are located partly within the galactic halo, and partly in intergalactic space. The ROSAT detection of soft X-ray emission from some of these HVCs is the first detection of HVCs in emission other than HI 21-cm line radiation.

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arXiv1998

HVCs probing a gaseous Galactic halo

We study the hypothesis that high-velocity clouds (HVCs) may originate from instabilities within the gaseous phase of the Galactic halo. According to the hydrostatic equilibrium model of Kalberla & Kerp (1998), we determine the probability distribution of occurrence of instabilities within the Galactic halo. Instabilities may produce condensations within the Galactic halo beyond a z-distances of 4 kpc, which are accelerated by gravity and decelerated by drag-forces. We present evidence that the HI high-velocity dispersion component, discovered by Kalberla et al. (1998) is associated with high-velocity-halo gas. The physical properties of this high-velocity-halo gas are similar to the recently detected highly-ionized HVCs by Sembach et al. (1995, 1998). Accordingly, the HI high-velocity dispersion component may be the neutral tracer of the turbulent gas motions within the Galactic halo. Our calculations demonstrate, that the sky-averaged signal of in-falling condensations does not differ significantly from the HI emission of the turbulent Galactic halo gas.

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arXiv1998

The gaseous Milky Way Halo

In 1998 several papers claim the detection of an ubiquitous gaseous phase within the Galactic halo. Here we like to focus on the detections of X-ray emitting gas within the Galactic halo as well as the discovery of a pervasive neutral Galactic halo gas. We discuss critically the major differences between the recent publications as well as the limitations of the analyses.

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arXiv1998

Hydrostatics of the Galactic Halo

We investigated a hydrostatic equilibrium model of the Milky Way following Parker (1966), to constrain the large scale properties of the interstellar medium. In our approach we found an excellent agreement between our simple hydrostatic equilibrium model of the Milky Way and the recent all-sky survey data rangeing from the gamma-ray to the radio regime. On large scales the galactic disk-halo system is found to be stable against Parker-instabilities. Pressure support from the Galactic disk is essential to stabilise the halo. In particular the diffuse ionised gas layer acts as a disk-halo interface. Assuming that the distribution of the soft X-ray emitting plasma traces the gravitational potential, we derived the dark matter content of the Milky Way to be about M ~ 2.8 10^11 M_o. Our findings are consistent with the rotation curve of the Galaxy.

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arXiv1998

A search for soft X-ray emission associated with prominent high-velocity-cloud complexes

We correlate the ROSAT 1/4 keV all-sky survey with the Leiden/Dwingeloo HI survey, looking for soft X-ray signatures of prominent high-velocity-cloud (HVC) complexes. We study the transfer of 1/4 keV photons through the interstellar medium in order to distinguish variations in the soft X-ray background (SXRB) intensity caused by photoelectric absorption effects from those due to excess X-ray emission. The X-ray data are modelled as a combination of emission from the Local Hot Bubble (LHB) and emission from a distant plasma in the galactic halo and extragalactic sources. The X-ray radiation intensity of the galactic halo and extragalactic X-ray background is modulated by the photoelectric absorption of the intervening galactic interstellar matter. We show that large- and small-scale intensity variations of the 1/4 keV SXRB are caused by photoelectric absorption which is predominantly traced by the total N(HI) distribution. The extensive coverage of the two surveys supports evidence for a hot, X-ray emitting corona. We show that this leads to a good representation of the SXRB observations. For four large areas on the sky, we search for regions where the modelled and observed X-ray emission differ. We find that there is excess X-ray emission towards regions near HVC complexes C, D, and GCN. We suggest that the excess X-ray emission is positionally correlated with the high-velocity clouds. Some lines of sight towards HVCs also pass through significant amounts of intermediate-velocity gas, so we cannot constrain the possible role played by IVC gas in these directions of HVC and IVC overlap, in determining the X-ray excesses.

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