Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2002-02-27
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
accepted for publication in ApJ, 43 pages including 26 figures
Scientific paper
10.1086/340381
We present spectroscopic observations of ionized gas in the disk-halo regions of five edge-on galaxies, covering a wavelength range from [OII] 3727A to [SII] 6716.4A. The inclusion of the [OII] emission provides additional constraints on the properties of the diffuse ionized gas (DIG), in particular, the origin of the observed spatial variations in the line intensity ratios. We have derived electron temperatures, ionization fractions and abundances along the slit. Our data include both slit positions parallel and perpendicular to the galactic disks. This allowed us to examine variations in the line intensity ratios with height above the midplane as well as distance from the galactic centers. The observed increase in the [OII]/Halpha line ratio towards the halo seems to require an increase in electron temperature caused by a non-ionizing heating mechanism. We conclude that gradients in the electron temperature can play a significant role in the observed variations in the optical emission line ratios from extraplanar DIG.
Gallagher III S. . J.
Otte Birgit
Reynolds Ron J.
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