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1989•Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyRequires access

Far-infrared estimates of the mass of gas in the Galaxy

A. Broadbent, Iain MacLaren, A. W. Wolfendale

Open publisher page 4 citations

Abstract

An analysis has been made of the available far-infrared (FIR) data in the wavelength range 60–250 µm along the Galactic Plane to study the distribution of the mass of gas in molecular form in the Inner Galaxy. A model is used in which the dust-to-gas ratio increases slowly towards the Galactic Centre, in a manner proportional to metallicity, and a number of other assumptions are made that are shown to be reasonable from comparison with the well known H I component locally. The total FIR emission is attributed to three basic components, viz. dust associated with HI, HII and H2, each of which has its own temperature as a function of Galactic longitude. By achieving a best fit to all the data at each wavelength it is possible to isolate the H2 component for detailed study. The result is that the total mass of the H2 in the Inner Galaxy is |$(6.1\pm2.7)\times10^8\enspace M_\odot$.|

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What this paper is about

An analysis has been made of the available far-infrared (FIR) data in the wavelength range 60–250 µm along the Galactic Plane to study the distribution of the mass of gas in molecular form in the Inner Galaxy. A model is used in which the dust-to-gas ratio increases slowly towards the Galactic Centre, in a manner proportional to metallicity, and a number of other assumptions are made that are shown to be reasonable from comparison with the well known H I component locally. The total FIR emission is attributed to three basic components, viz. dust associated with HI, HII and H2, each of which has its own temperature as a function of Galactic longitude. By achieving a best fit to all the data at each wavelength it is possible to isolate the H2 component for detailed study. The result is that the total mass of the H2 in the Inner Galaxy is |$(6.1\pm2.7)\times10^8\enspace M_\odot$.|

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Available abstract

An analysis has been made of the available far-infrared (FIR) data in the wavelength range 60–250 µm along the Galactic Plane to study the distribution of the mass of gas in molecular form in the Inner Galaxy. A model is used in which the dust-to-gas ratio increases slowly towards the Galactic Centre, in a manner proportional to metallicity, and a number of other assumptions are made that are shown to be reasonable from comparison with the well known H I component locally. The total FIR emission is attributed to three basic components, viz. dust associated with HI, HII and H2, each of which has its own temperature as a function of Galactic longitude. By achieving a best fit to all the data at each wavelength it is possible to isolate the H2 component for detailed study. The result is that the total mass of the H2 in the Inner Galaxy is |$(6.1\pm2.7)\times10^8\enspace M_\odot$.|

Key concepts: Physics, Galaxy, Astrophysics, Galactic plane, Metallicity, Infrared, Astronomy, Wavelength

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