No Arabic abstract
Shadow observations are the only way to observe emission from the galactic halo (GH) and/or the circumgalactic medium (CGM) free of any foreground contamination from local hot bubble (LHB) and solar wind charge exchange (SWCX). We analyzed data from a shadow observation in the direction of the high latitude, neutral hydrogen cloud MBM 16 with Suzaku. We found that all emission can be accounted for by foreground emission from LHB and SWCX, plus power law emission associated with unresolved point sources. The GH/CGM in the direction of MBM 16 is negligible or inexistent in our observation, with upper limits on the emission measure of 9.5x10^{-4} pc cm^{-6} (90% C.L.), at the lowest end of current estimates.
Based on the accurate color excess $E_{rm G_{BP},G_{RP}}$ of more than 4 million stars and $E_{rm NUV,G_{BP}}$ of more than 1 million stars from citet{2021ApJS..254...38S}, the distance and the extinction of the molecular clouds in the MBM catalog at $|b|>20^{circ}$ are studied in combination with the distance measurement of emph{Gaia}/EDR3. The distance as well as the color excess is determined for 66 molecular clouds. The color excess ratio $E_{rm G_{BP},G_{RP}}/E_{rm NUV,G_{BP}}$ is derived for 39 of them, which is obviously larger and implies more small particles at smaller extinction. In addition, the scale height of the dust disk is found to be about 100 pc and becomes large at the anticenter direction due to the disk flaring.
We present optical photometric, spectroscopic data for the stars in the high Galactic latitude molecular cloud MBM 110. For the complete membership selection of MBM 110, we also analyze WISE mid-infrared data and Gaia astrometric data. Membership of individual stars is critically evaluated using the data mentioned above. The Gaia parallax of stars in MBM 110 is 2.667 +/- 0.095 mas (d = 375 +/- 13 pc), which confirms that MBM 110 is a small star-forming region in the Orion-Eridanus superbubble. The age of MBM 110 is between 1.9 Myr and 3.1 Myr depending on the adopted pre-main sequence evolution model. The total stellar mass of MBM 110 is between 16 M_sun (members only) and 23 M_sun (including probable members). The star formation efficiency is estimated to be about 1.4%. We discuss the importance of such small star formation regions in the context of the global star formation rate and suggest that a galaxys star formation rate calculated from the Halpha luminosity may underestimate the actual star formation rate. We also confirm a young brown dwarf member based on photometry, spectroscopy, and astrometry.
We find evidence for the impact of infalling, low-metallicity gas on the Galactic disk. This is based on FUV absorption line spectra, 21-cm emission line spectra, and FIR mapping to estimate the abundance and physical properties of IV21 (IVC135+54-45), a galactic intermediate-velocity molecular cloud (IVMC) that lies ~300 pc above the disk. The metallicity of IV21 was estimated using observations toward the sdB star PG1144+615, located at a projected distance of 16 pc from the clouds densest core, by measuring ion and HI column densities for comparison with known solar abundances. Despite the clouds bright FIR emission and large column densities of molecular gas as traced by CO, we find that it has a sub-solar metallicity of log(Z/Z_Sun)=-0.43 +/- 0.12dex. IV21 is thus the first known sub-solar metallicity cloud in the solar neighborhood. In contrast, most intermediate-velocity clouds (IVC) have near-solar metallicities and are believed to originate in the Galactic Fountain. The clouds low metallicity is also atypical for Galactic molecular clouds, especially in the light of the bright FIR emission which suggest a substantial dust content. The measured I_100mu/N(HI) ratio is a factor of three below the average found in high latitude HI clouds within the solar neighborhood. We argue that IV21 represents the impact of an infalling, low-metallicity high-velocity cloud (HVC) that is mixing with disk gas in the lower Galactic halo.
We present a census of neutral gas in the Milky Way disk and halo down to limiting column densities of $N$(HI)$sim10^{14}$ cm$^{-2}$ using measurements of HI Lyman-series absorption from the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE). Our results are drawn from an analysis of 25 AGN sightlines spread evenly across the sky with Galactic latitude |b|$gtrsim 20^{circ}$. By simultaneously fitting multi-component Voigt profiles to 11 Lyman-series absorption transitions covered by FUSE (Ly$beta$-Ly$mu$) plus HST measurements of Ly$alpha$, we derive the kinematics and column densities of a sample of 152 HI absorption components. While saturation prevents accurate measurements of many components with column densities 17$lesssim$log$N$(HI)$lesssim$19, we derive robust measurements at log$N$(HI)$lesssim$17 and log$N$(HI)$gtrsim$19. We derive the first ultraviolet HI column density distribution function (CDDF) of the Milky Way, both globally and for low-velocity (ISM), intermediate-velocity clouds (IVCs), and high-velocity clouds (HVCs). We find that IVCs and HVCs show statistically indistinguishable CDDF slopes, with $beta_{rm IVC}=$ $-1.01_{-0.14}^{+0.15}$ and $beta_{rm HVC}=$ $-1.05_{-0.06}^{+0.07}$. Overall, the CDDF of the Galactic disk and halo appears shallower than that found by comparable extragalactic surveys, suggesting a relative abundance of high-column density gas in the Galactic halo. We derive the sky covering fractions as a function of HI column density, finding an enhancement of IVC gas in the northern hemisphere compared to the south. We also find evidence for an excess of inflowing HI over outflowing HI, with $-$0.88$pm$0.40 M$_odot$ yr$^{-1}$ of HVC inflow versus 0.20$pm$0.10 M$_odot$ yr$^{-1}$ of HVC outflow, confirming an excess of inflowing HVCs seen in UV metal lines.
We have conducted B, g, V, and R-band imaging in a 45x40 arcmin^2 field containing part of the high Galactic latitude translucent cloud MBM32, and correlated the intensity of diffuse optical light S_ u(lambda) with that of 100 micron emission S_ u(100um). A chi^2 minimum analysis is applied to fit a linear function to the measured correlation and derive the slope parameter b(lambda)= Delta S_ u(lambda) / Delta S_ u(100um) of the best-fit linear function. Compiling a sample by combining our b(lambda) and published ones, we show that the b(lambda) strength varies from cloud to cloud by a factor of 4. Finding that b(lambda) decreases as S_ u(100um) increases in the sample, we suggest that a non-linear correlation including a quadratic term of S_ u(100um)^2 should be fitted to the measured correlation. The variation of optical depth, which is A_V = 0.16 - 2.0 in the sample, can change b(lambda) by a factor of 2 - 3. There would be some contribution to the large b(lambda) variation from the forward-scattering characteristic of dust grains which is coupled to the non-isotropic interstellar radiation field (ISRF). Models of the scattering of diffuse Galactic light (DGL) underestimate the b(lambda) values by a factor of 2. This could be reconciled by deficiency in UV photons in the ISRF or by a moderate increase in dust albedo. Our b(lambda) spectrum favors a contribution from extended red emission (ERE) to the diffuse optical light; b(lambda) rises from B to V faster than the models, seems to peak around 6000 AA, and decreases towards long wavelengths. Such a characteristic is expected from the models in which the DGL is combined with ERE.