Related papers: Present-day Galactic Evolution: Low-metallicity, W…
Using high-resolution ultraviolet spectra obtained with the HST/Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) and the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer, we study the metallicity, kinematics, and distance of the gaseous "Outer Arm" (OA)…
A population of discrete HI clouds in the halo of the inner Galaxy has been discovered in 21cm observations made with the Green Bank Telescope. The halo clouds are seen up to 1.5 kpc from the Galactic plane at many longitudes. Their…
We present the detection of dust depletion in Complex C, a massive, infalling, low-metallicity high-velocity cloud in the northern Galactic hemisphere that traces the ongoing accretion of gas onto the Milky Way. We analyze a very high…
Halpha and Hbeta spectroscopy with the Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper (WHAM) reveals a strong concentration of high velocity emission in a ~ 5 by 5 deg area centered near (l.b) = (27,-3), known as the Scutum Cloud. The high velocities imply that…
High-velocity clouds (HVCs) are composed of neutral hydrogen (HI) moving at velocities that deviate from the general rotational motion of the Milky Way. Currently, the origins of the HVCs remain poorly known due to the difficulty in…
The consortium for Galactic studies with the Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFA) is conducting a neutral hydrogen (HI) survey of the whole Arecibo sky (declination range from -1 to 38 degrees), with high angular (3.5') and velocity resolution…
We have detected over 400 HI clouds in the lower halo of the Galaxy within the pilot region of the Galactic All-Sky Survey (GASS), a region of the fourth quadrant that spans 18 degrees in longitude, 40 degrees in latitude and is centered on…
Studies of the Milky Way's disk-halo interface have historically identified inflowing and outflowing gas incompatible with disk rotation on the basis of radial velocity, leading to the well-known categories of intermediate-velocity clouds…
We combine CaII/NaI absorption and HI 21 cm emission line measurements to analyse the metal abundances, the distribution, the small-scale structure, and the physical conditions of intermediate- and high-velocity gas in the Galactic halo.
Optical emission lines have now been detected from about 20 high velocity clouds. These emission lines -- primarily H-alpha, secondarily [N II] and [S II] -- are very faint and diffuse, spread over the surfaces of the clouds. We compile…
Significant numbers of high-velocity HI clouds (HVCs) have now been detected in H-alpha, with a subset seen in low ionization lines (e.g. [NII]). It was originally hoped that the observed H-alpha strength would provide a distance constraint…
We suggest that the high--velocity clouds (HVCs) are large clouds, with typical diameters of 25 kpc and containing 5e7 solar masses of neutral gas and 3e8 solar masses of dark matter, falling onto the Local Group; altogether the HVCs…
Measurements of high-velocity clouds' metallicities provide important clues about their origins, and hence on whether they play a role in fueling ongoing star formation in the Galaxy. However, accurate interpretation of these measurements…
The high- and intermediate-velocity interstellar clouds (HVCs/IVCs) are tracers of energetic processes in and around the Milky Way. Clouds with near-solar metallicity about one kpc above the disk trace the circulation of material between…
The Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper (WHAM) has completed a one-degree resolution, velocity-resolved northern sky survey of H-alpha emission from our Galaxy. The unprecedented sensitivity of the instrument and accurate spectral subtraction of…
Without a source of new gas, our Galaxy would exhaust its supply of gas through the formation of stars. Ionized gas clouds observed at high velocity may be a reservoir of such gas, but their distances are key for placing them in the…
The rotational transitions of carbon monoxide (CO) are the primary means of investigating the density and velocity structure of the molecular interstellar medium. Here we study the lowest four rotational transitions of CO towards…
We present a new measurement, 0.85-3.5 Z_solar, of the metallicity of high velocity cloud (HVC) Complex M by analyzing ultraviolet spectroscopic observations of the blazar Mrk 421 taken with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble…
We report the first detection of magnetic fields associated with the Smith High Velocity Cloud. We use a catalog of Faraday rotation measures towards extragalactic radio sources behind the Smith Cloud, new HI observations from the Green…
I review studies of the hot gaseous medium in and around nearby normal disk galaxies, including the Milky Way. This medium represents a reservoir of materials required for lasting star formation, a depository of galactic feedback (e.g.,…