Small-Scale ISM Structure: the Remarkable Sightline Toward MU CRU

Details Small-Scale ISM Structure: the Remarkable Sightline Toward MU CRU Small-Scale ISM Structure: the Remarkable Sightline Toward MU CRU

Jul 1996

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996hst..prop.6418m&link_type=abstract

HST Proposal ID #6418

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Hst Proposal Id #6418 Interstellar Medium

Scientific paper

We propose to use the GHRS on HST to accurately measure andcompare the interstellar Zn II, Cr II, Mg I, and C Iabsorption line profiles toward both members of the binary MuCru. Recent optical observations of Na I at very high spectralresolution (Deltav = 0.3 km s^-1) toward this system revealline strength variations in at least 4 velocity componentsindicative of ISM structure on scales less than the projectedbinary separation of 6600 AU. Based on similar observationstoward other binaries, such structure now appears to be acommon feature of the cold diffuse gas in the local ISM anddetectable toward systems with projected separations as smallas 1000 AU. The Mu Cru sightline provides an ideal laboratoryto study the nature of this small-scale ISM structure withhigh S/N GHRS echelle observations of key interstellar ions.In particular, comparisons between the optically thin Zn IIand Cr II lines will allow us to assess how the clumpiness ofthe gas is reflected in the dust. Observations of the C I fine-structure excitation will provide good estimates of thepressures in the cold clumps whose small scale lengths suggesthigh gas densities in a very diffuse ambient medium. Insummary, our proposed GHRS observations of Mu Cru will providethe first quantitative steps toward understanding how small-scale structure forms and evolves in the diffuse ISM.

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