Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Apr 2001
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001apj...550l.231b&link_type=abstract
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 550, Issue 2, pp. L231-L231.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
10
Scientific paper
In the Letter ``The Escape of Ionizing Photons from the Galaxy'' by J. Bland-Hawthorn & P. R. Maloney (ApJ, 510, L33 [1999]), there is an error in Figure 4 that bears on the derived escape fraction of ionizing photons from star-forming regions in the Galaxy's disk. For the quoted distance (55 kpc) of the Magellanic Stream, the predicted emission measures should be reduced by a factor of (20/55)2. Our derived value of fesc~6%, the escape fraction normal to the disk, must be raised by the inverse of this factor, which makes it unlikely that the Stream Hα arises from UV produced by the Galaxy's young stellar disk. This is exacerbated by new Hα observations that show that the Stream is even brighter than originally thought (Weiner, Vogel, & Williams 2001). Bland-Hawthorn & Putman (2001) discuss possible sources of ionization for the Magellanic Stream. We note with interest that high-velocity clouds have now been detected in Hα (e.g., Tufte, Reynolds, & Haffner 1998). Some of these have well-established distance bounds. Bland-Hawthorn & Putman (2001) and Weiner et al. (2001) find that the observed Hα is roughly consistent with fesc~5%, although the present uncertainties are about a factor of 2. It should be noted that fesc refers to the escape fraction normal to the disk. The escape fraction averaged over 4π sr, fesc, is about a factor of 3 smaller and depends on the details of the opacity model (Bland-Hawthorn 1998, Appendix 1). The present uncertainties on fesc for the Galaxy mean that we cannot determine whether star-forming regions dominate the extragalactic UV background (cf. Shull et al. 1999).
Bland-Hawthorn Jonathan
Maloney Philip R.
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