Hydrostatic equilibrium of gas, extent of cosmic ray confinement, and radio emission in the Galaxy

Details Hydrostatic equilibrium of gas, extent of cosmic ray confinement, and radio emission in the Galaxy Hydrostatic equilibrium of gas, extent of cosmic ray confinement, and radio emission in the Galaxy

Mar 1977

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1977apj...212..494b&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal, Part 1, vol. 212, Mar. 1, 1977, p. 494-506.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

49

Cosmic Rays, Galactic Structure, Hydrostatics, Interstellar Gas, Interstellar Magnetic Fields, Equilibrium Equations, Gas Pressure, Halos, Pressure Distribution, Radio Emission, Radio Spectra

Scientific paper

A detailed study of the hydrostatic equilibrium of the gas-field system perpendicular to the galactic plane in the neighborhood of the sun, assuming that the magnetic field is parallel to the plane, has been carried out. It is found that the distribution of pressure due to cosmic rays and the magnetic field is different from that due to the gas. The observed radio spectrum in the direction of the galactic pole can be understood if one includes in the hydrostatic equilibrium the distribution of gas in the halo. The results of this analysis show that in the galactic plane, the cosmic-ray density is approximately 2 to 3 eV/cu cm with a magnetic-field strength of about 5 to 6 microgauss. It is inferred that cosmic rays are confined to a more extended volume in the Galaxy (with an equivalent thickness of at least 2 kpc in the solar neighborhood) than the gas disk, and the magnetic-field strength slowly decreases to a value of 1 microgauss only beyond about 5 kpc from the plane. Further, there is no evidence for a quasi-spherical radio halo, although the radio emission extends beyond the gas disk with scale height of at least 1 kpc. A lower limit of about 6 million years for the confinement of cosmic rays in the Galaxy has been set.

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