arXiv subjects

Urmas Haud

Publications and source records attributed to Urmas Haud.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2020

Dust polarization modeling at large-scale over the Northern Galactic cap using EBHIS and Planck data

The primary source of systematic uncertainty in the quest for the B-mode polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) introduced by primordial gravitational waves is polarized thermal emission from Galactic dust. Therefore, accurate characterization and separation of the polarized thermal dust emission is an essential step in distinguishing such a faint CMB B-mode signal. We provide a modelling framework to simulate polarized thermal dust emission based on the model described in Ghosh et al. (2017), making use of both the Planck dust and Effelsberg-Bonn HI surveys over the northern Galactic cap. Our seven-parameter dust model, incorporating both HI gas in three different column density templates as a proxy for spatially variable dust intensity and a phenomenological model of Galactic magnetic field, is able to reproduce both 1- and 2-point statistics of the observed dust polarization maps seen by Planck at 353 GHz over a selected low-column density region in the northern Galactic cap. This work has important applications in assessing the accuracy of component separation methods and in quantifying the confidence level of separating polarized Galactic emission and the CMB B-mode signal, as is needed for ongoing and future CMB missions.

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arXiv2017

Modelling and simulation of large-scale polarized dust emission over the southern Galactic cap using the GASS HI data

The Planck survey has quantified polarized Galactic foregrounds and established that they are a main limiting factor in the quest for the cosmic microwave background (CMB) B-mode signal induced by primordial gravitational waves during cosmic inflation. Accurate separation of the Galactic foregrounds therefore binds this quest to our understanding of the magnetized interstellar medium (ISM). The two most relevant empirical results from analysis of Planck data are line of sight depolarization arising from fluctuations of the Galactic magnetic field orientation and alignment of filamentary dust structures with the magnetic field at high Galactic latitude. Furthermore, Planck and HI emission data in combination indicate that most of the filamentary dust structures are in the cold neutral medium. The goal of this paper is to test whether these salient observational results, taken together, can account fully for the statistical properties of the dust polarization over a selected low column density region comprising 34 % of the southern Galactic cap ($b \le -30°$). To do this, we construct a dust model that incorporates HI column density maps as tracers of the dust intensity structures and a phenomenological description of the Galactic magnetic field. By adjusting the parameters of the dust model, we were able to reproduce the Planck dust observations at 353 GHz in the selected region. Realistic simulations of the polarized dust emission enabled by such a dust model are useful for testing the accuracy of component separation methods, studying non-Gaussianity, and constraining the amount of decorrelation with frequency.

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arXiv2015

GASS: The Parkes Galactic All-Sky Survey. Update: improved correction for instrumental effects and new data release

The Galactic All-Sky Survey is a survey of Galactic atomic hydrogen emission in the southern sky observed with the Parkes 64-m Radio Telescope. The first data release (GASS I) concerned survey goals and observing techniques, the second release (GASS II) focused on stray radiation and instrumental corrections. We seek to remove the remaining instrumental effects and present a third data release. We use the HEALPix tessellation concept to grid the data on the sphere. Individual telescope records are compared with averages on the nearest grid position for significant deviations. All averages are also decomposed into Gaussian components with the aim of segregating unacceptable solutions. Improved priors are used for an iterative baseline fitting and cleaning. In the last step we generate 3-D FITS data cubes and examine them for remaining problems. We have removed weak, but systematic baseline offsets with an improved baseline fitting algorithm. We have unraveled correlator failures that cause time dependent oscillations; errors cause stripes in the scanning direction. The remaining problems from radio frequency interference (RFI) are spotted. Classifying the severeness of instrumental errors for each individual telescope record (dump) allows us to exclude bad data from averages. We derive parameters that allow us to discard dumps without compromising the noise of the resulting data products too much. All steps are reiterated several times: in each case, we check the Gaussian parameters for remaining problems and inspect 3-D FITS data cubes visually. We find that in total ~1.5% of the telescope dumps need to be discarded in addition to ~0.5% of the spectral channels that were excluded in GASS II.The new data release facilitates data products with improved quality. A new web interface, compatible with the previous version, is available for download of GASS III FITS cubes and spectra.

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arXiv2013

Narrow-line HI and cold structures in the ISM

Context. In the HI line profiles in the Leiden-Argentina-Bonn (LAB) all-sky database, we have found a population of very cold HI clouds. So far, the role of these clouds in the interstellar medium (ISM) has remained unclear. Aims. In this paper, we attempt to confirm the existence of the narrow-line HI emission (NHIE) clouds by using the data from the Parkes Galactic all-sky survey (GASS) and try to find their place among other coldest constituents of the ISM. Methods. We repeat the search of NHIE with the GASS data and derive or compile some preliminary estimates for the distribution, temperatures, distances, linear sizes, column and number densities, masses, and the composition of NHIE clouds, and compare these data with corresponding estimates for HI self-absorption (HISA) features, the Planck cold clumps (CC), and infrared dark clouds (IRDC). Results. We demonstrate that from LAB and GASS we can separate comparable NHIE complexes, and the properties of the obtained NHIE clouds are very similar to those of HISA features, but both of these types of clouds are somewhat warmer and more extended and have lower densities than the cores in the Planck CC and IRDC. Conclusions. We conclude that NHIE may be the same type of clouds as HISA, but in different observing conditions, in the same way as the Planck CC and IRDC are most likely similar ISM structures in different observing conditions and probably in slightly different evolutionary stages. Both NHIE and HISA may be an intermediate phase between the diffuse cold neutral medium and star-forming molecular clumps represented by the Planck CC and IRDC.

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arXiv2010

Gaussian decomposition of HI surveys. V. Search for very cold clouds

In the previous papers of this series, we have decomposed into Gaussian components all the HI 21-cm line profiles of the Leiden-Argentina-Bonn (LAB) database, and studied statistical distributions of the obtained Gaussians. Now we are interested in separation from the general database of the components the "clouds" of closely spaced similar Gaussians. In this paper we describe the new cloud-finding algorithm. To separate the clouds of similar Gaussians, we start with the single-link hierarchical clustering procedure in five-dimensional (longitude, latitude, velocity, Gaussian width and height) space, but make some modifications to accommodate it to the large number of components. We also use the requirement that each cloud may be represented at any observed sky position by only one Gaussian and take into account the similarity of global properties of the merging clouds. As a test, we apply the algorithm for finding the clouds of the narrowest HI 21-cm line components. Using the full sky search for cold clouds, we easily detect the coldest known HI clouds and demonstrate that actually they are a part of a long narrow ribbon of cold clouds. We model these clouds as a part of a planar gas ring, deduce their spatial placement, and discuss their relation to supernova shells in the solar neighborhood. We conclude that the proposed algorithm satisfactorily solves the posed task. We guess that the study of the narrowest HI 21-cm line components may be a useful tool for finding the structure of neutral gas in solar neighborhood.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2008

Gaussian decomposition of HI surveys. IV. Galactic intermediate- and high-velocity clouds

Traditionally IVC and HVC were defined to be concentrations of HI gas, with line-of-sight velocities that are inconsistent with data on the differential rotation of the Galaxy. We demonstrate that IVCs and HVCs can be identified from certain density enhancements in (V_C, FWHM) distribution of Gaussians, representing the Galactic HI 21 cm radio lines. We study the Gaussians, which parameters fall into the regions of the phase-space density enhancements about $(V_C, FWHM) = (-131, 27), (164, 26) and (-49 km/s, 23 km/s). The sky distribution of the Gaussians, corresponding to the first two concentrations, very well represents the sky distribution of HVCs, as obtained on the basis of the traditional definition of these objects. The Gaussians of the last concentration correspond to IVCs. Based on this identification, the division line between IVCs and HVCs can be drawn at about |V_C| = 74 km/s, and IVCs can be identified down to velocities of about |V_C| = 24 km/s. Traces of both IVCs and HVCs can also be seen in the sky distribution of Gaussians with FWHM = 7.3 km/s. In HVCs, these cold cores have small angular dimensions and low observed brightness temperatures T_b. In IVCs, the cores are both larger and brighter. This definition of IVCs and HVCs is less dependant than the traditional one, on the differential rotation model of the Galaxy. The consideration of line-width information may enable IVCs and HVCs to be better distinguished from each other, and from the ordinary Galactic HI

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arXiv2007

Gaussian decomposition of HI surveys. III. Local HI

Context: To investigate the properties of the 21-cm radio-lines of galactic neutral hydrogen, the profiles of "The Leiden/Argentine/Bonn (LAB) Survey of Galactic HI" are decomposed into Gaussian components. Aims: The width distribution of the obtained components is analysed and compared with similar studies by other authors. Methods: The study is based on an automatic profile decomposition algorithm. As the Gaussians obtained for the complex HI profiles near the galactic plane cannot be directly interpreted in terms of the properties of gas clouds, we mainly study the selected simplest profiles in a limited velocity range. The selection criteria are described and their influence on the results discussed. Results: Considering only the simplest HI profiles, we demonstrate that for Gaussians with relatively small LSR velocities (-9 <= V_C <= 4 km/s) it is possible to distinguish three or four groups of preferred line-widths with mean widths FWHM = 3.9 +- 0.6, 11.8 +- 0.5, 24.1 +- 0.6, and 42 +- 5 km/s. Verschuur previously proposed similar line-width regimes, but with somewhat larger widths. He used a human-assisted decomposition for a nearly 50 times smaller database and we discuss systematic differences in analysis and results. Conclusions: The line-widths of about 3.9 and 24.1 km/s are well understood in the framework of traditional models of the two-phase interstellar medium. The components with the widths around 11.8 km/s indicate that a considerable fraction (up to about 40%) of the HI gas is thermally unstable. The reality and the origin of the broad lines with the widths of about 42 km/s is more obscure. These, however, contain only about 4% of the total observed column densities.

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arXiv2006

Global properties of the HI high velocity sky, a statistical investigation based on the LAB survey

We study the properties of all major HVC complexes from a sample compiled 1991 by Wakker & van Woerden (WvW). We use the Leiden/Argentine/Bonn all sky 21-cm line survey and decompose the profiles into Gaussian components. We find a well defined multi-component structure for most of the HVC complexes. The cold HVC phase has lines with typical velocity dispersions of sigma = 3 km/s and exists only within more extended broad line regions, typically with sigma = 12 km/s. The motions of the cores relative to the envelopes are characterized by Mach numbers M = 1.5. The center velocities of the cores within a HVC complex have typical dispersions of 20 km/s. Remarkable is the well defined two-component structure for some prominent HVC complexes in the outskirts of the Milky Way: Complex H, the Magellanic Stream and the Leading Arm. There might be some indications for an interaction between HVCs and disk gas at intermediate velocities. This is possible for complex H, M, C, WB, WD, WE, WC, R, G, GCP, and OA, but not for complex A, MS, ACVHV, EN, WA, and P. Conclusions: The line widths, determined by us, imply that estimates of HVC masses, as far as derived from the WvW database, need to be scaled up by a factor 1.4. Correspondingly, guesses for the external pressure of a confining coronal gas need to be revised upward by a factor of 2. The HVC multi-phase structure implies in general that currently the halo pressure is significantly underestimated. In consequence, the HVC multi-phase structure may indicate that most of the complexes are circum-galactic. HVCs have turbulent energy densities which are an order of magnitude larger than that of comparable clumps in the Galactic disk.

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