Other
Scientific paper
Dec 1998
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1998mcdg.proc...11c&link_type=abstract
The Magellanic Clouds and Other Dwarf Galaxies, Proceedings of the Bonn/Bochum-Graduiertenkolleg Workshop, held at the Physikzen
Other
H Ii: Regions, Halos, Hot Interstellar Medium, X-Rays, Shells
Scientific paper
Massive stars interact with the interstellar medium (ISM) via UV radiation, fast stellar winds, and supernova ejecta. These energetic interactions ionize, accelerate, and heat the ISM, producing hot gas with temperatures up to 10^7 K. The mass exchange between this hot gas and the cold neutral gas constitutes the evolution of a multi-phase ISM. Hot ionized gas is an essential component of the ISM. However, it is difficult to study the distribution and physical properties of hot gas in the Galaxy because of confusion and obscuration along the Galactic plane. The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), owing to its close proximity, nearly face-on view, and small extinction, presents an ideal site to study hot gas and its role in the interstellar matrix. Soft X-ray images of the LMC show bright diffuse emission, indicating the existence of hot (10^6-10^7 K) ionized gas. Clues to the origin of the hot gas in the LMC are provided by comparisons between X-ray and H-alpha images. H-alpha images of the LMC show a variety of interstellar shells, ranging from small supernova remnants a few pc in diameter to large supergiant shells more than 1000 pc across. Some of the diffuse X-ray emission is associated with shell structures, but there is also large-scale diffuse emission that does not appear to be confined by any cooler interstellar structures. The origins of hot gas in these different types of diffuse X-ray emission regions are individually discussed. A hot (10^5 K) gas halo of the LMC was suggested in the early 1980's. As most of the previously reported interstellar C IV absorption occurs in large shell structures where supernovae and fast stellar winds are rampant, the evidence for a global hot gas halo around the LMC has been weak. Recent HST GHRS observations of five carefully chosen probe stars show clear detections of the interstellar C IV, providing unambiguous evidence for a hot gas halo of the LMC. Three sightlines have C IV velocities blue shifted from the H-alpha by 25-60 km s/1, indicating that the hot gas halo may be expanding away from the disk gas. The hot gas halo of the LMC is most likely patchy, as implied by a stringent nondetection by the IUE along one sightline.
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