First Results from WHAM. I. Hα from HVCs, He I lambda 5876 from the WIM, and the First WIM Temperature Measurement.

Other

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

5

Scientific paper

The Wisconsin Hα Mapper (WHAM) instrument saw first light in January of 1996 and has been collecting unique data ever since. The WHAM instrument will move to Kitt Peak in Arizona in the late fall to make velocity-resolved maps of the entire northern sky in Hα at 10 km s(-1) spectral resolution and one-degree spatial resolution. During this year we are developing the remote operations capabilities of WHAM as well as using clear nights to collect data to complement the survey. The WHAM instrument contains a large-aperture, double-etalon Fabry-Perot spectrometer and utilizes a CCD camera to image the resulting ring pattern. We have shown that this technique yields a factor of 50 to 100 gain in efficiency over our previous spectrometer, which used a single-channel PMT detector. This dramatic increase in sensitivity has provided the opportunity to explore new terrain in the study of faint emission lines. We have clear detections of Hα emission from high-velocity clouds in Complex M. We have also detected He I lambda5876 emission from the warm ionized component of the interstellar medium (WIM). This line results from recombination and thus probes the degree of helium ionization in this gas. Comparing the He I line intensity to the Hα intensity provides important constraints on the as yet unknown source of ionization of the WIM. Another interesting line we have detected in the WIM is the [N II] lambda5755 line, which along with our measurement of the [N II] lambda6584 line provides the first direct measurement of the temperature in the WIM. This work has been supported by the National Science Foundation.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

First Results from WHAM. I. Hα from HVCs, He I lambda 5876 from the WIM, and the First WIM Temperature Measurement. does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with First Results from WHAM. I. Hα from HVCs, He I lambda 5876 from the WIM, and the First WIM Temperature Measurement., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and First Results from WHAM. I. Hα from HVCs, He I lambda 5876 from the WIM, and the First WIM Temperature Measurement. will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1353866

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.