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The diffuse interstellar medium
| Content Provider | NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
|---|---|
| Author | Hollenbach, David Mundy, Lee Wolfire, Mark |
| Copyright Year | 1997 |
| Description | A major component of this research is to extend existing models of thermal processes in the local interstellar medium to the inner and outer Galaxy. In completing this goal we have calculated the thermal equilibrium gas temperature of the neutral diffuse gas and constructed phase diagrams (gas pressure versus density) for gas at galactic radii between 3 and 18 kpc. An important ingredient in this computation is the far-ultraviolet (FUV) radiation field in the Galactic disk. This radiation is important since photoelectric heating via FUV radiation on dust grains is expected to be a dominant heating process in the diffuse via gas. As a check of our calculated FUV field, we compared the infrared luminosity predicted by our theory with the observations of the COBE DIRBE space satellite and found the two to be in quite good agreement. Using our phase diagrams we have predicted the thermal pressure in the Galactic plane for which a multiphase equilibrium can be maintained. In addition, by using the maximum thermal pressure allowed by the observations, we have constrained the Galactic radii over which both cold and warm gas must exist, may exist, and cannot exist. |
| File Size | 122071 |
| Page Count | 4 |
| File Format | |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://archive.org/details/NASA_NTRS_Archive_20000011198 |
| Archival Resource Key | ark:/13960/t59d1w420 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher Date | 1997-01-01 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Astrophysics Neutral Gases Phase Diagrams Galaxies Diffuse Radiation Gas Pressure Gas Temperature Thermodynamic Equilibrium Radiation Distribution Heating Far Ultraviolet Radiation Infrared Radiation Background Radiation Interstellar Gas Ntrs Nasa Technical Reports Server (ntrs) Nasa Technical Reports Server Aerodynamics Aircraft Aerospace Engineering Aerospace Aeronautic Space Science |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Technical Report |
