2003/02/12 by Birgit Otte, W. Van Dyke Dixon, Ravi Sankrit · 15 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Emission spectrum #Galactic halo #Halo #Line (geometry) #Line-of-sight #Milky Way #Supernova #Ultraviolet #Ultraviolet astronomy #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/374731
published in The Astrophysical Journal 586(1), L53-L56 (IOP Publishing) · accepted for publication in ApJL, 11 pages including 3 figures
arxiv created 2003/02/12 · openalex publication_date 2003/03/20 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · arxiv updated 2016/08/30 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Background observations obtained with the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer toward l = 95 4, b = 36 1 show O VI λλ1032, 1038 in emission. This sight line probes a region of stronger than average soft X-ray emission in the direction of high-velocity cloud Complex C above a part of the disk in which Hα filaments rise into the halo. The O VI intensities, 1600 ± 300 photons s -1 cm -2 sr -1 (1032 Å) and 800 ± 300 photons s -1 cm -2 sr -1 (1038 Å), are the lowest detected in emission in the Milky Way to date. A second sight line nearby ( l = 99 3, b = 43 3) also shows O VI λ1032 emission but with too low a signal-to-noise ratio to obtain reliable measurements. The measured intensities, velocities, and FWHMs of the O VI doublet and the C II* line at 1037 Å are consistent with a model in which the observed emission is produced in the Galactic halo by hot gas ejected by supernovae in the Perseus arm. An association of the observed gas with Complex C appears unlikely.