WHAM Observations of Hα from High Velocity Clouds: Are They Galactic or Extra-Galactic?

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

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Scientific paper

We have used the Wisconsin Hα Mapper (WHAM) to measure the Hα intensities toward six high velocity clouds (HVCs). Our study is designed to address whether HVCs are in the halo of our galaxy or are at much greater distances as is predicted by a recent model suggesting that they are distributed throughout the Local Group of galaxies. Because the intergalactic ionizing flux is known to be low, and the galaxy is a source of UV photons, those clouds close to the galaxy should be significantly ionized, and those far away should not. We measured Hα emission from six HVCs chosen as likely candidates for being extragalactic objects. We detected Hα emission from five out of the six clouds, with intensities ranging form 0.01 to 0.2 Rayleighs. These intensities are consistent with the HVCs being in the galactic halo, and appear to be too high to be at megaparsec distances.

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