Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Galaxy Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2009-08-28
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Galaxy Astrophysics
7 pages, 2 figures. To appear in the Proceedings of the Galaxy Wars: Stellar Populations and Star Formation in Interacting Gal
Scientific paper
Understanding the hydrodynamical processes and conditions at the interface between the Magellanic Stream (MS) and the Galactic halo is critical to understanding the MS and by extension, gaseous tails in other interacting galaxies. These processes operate on relatively small scales and not only help shape this clumpy stream, but also affect the neutral gas dynamics and transfer of mass from the stream to the halo, thus affecting metal enrichment and gas replenishment of the Galaxy. We describe an observational program to place constraints on these processes through high-resolution measurements of HI emission, HI absorption and Halpha emission with unprecedented sensitivity. Methods will include structural analysis, searching for cold gas cores in clumps and analyzing gas kinematics as it transitions to the halo. The latter method includes sophisticated spatial integration techniques to deeply probe the neutral gas, which we apply to a new HI map obtained from the Green Bank Telescope with the highest sensitivity HI observations of the MS to date. We demonstrate that the integration techniques enhance sensitivity even further, thus allowing detection of apparent MS gas components with density approaching that of the Galactic halo.
Gallagher III S. . J.
Lockman Felix J.
Majewski Steven R.
Nidever David L.
Nigra Lou
No associations
LandOfFree
The Magellanic Stream to Halo Interface: Processes that shape our nearest gaseous Halo Stream 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 The Magellanic Stream to Halo Interface: Processes that shape our nearest gaseous Halo Stream, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Magellanic Stream to Halo Interface: Processes that shape our nearest gaseous Halo Stream will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-193729