Related papers: Ionizing Photon Sources within the Local Group
We discuss the sources which are likely to dominate the ionizing field throughout the Local Group. In terms of the limiting flux to produce detectable H-alpha emission (4-10 x 10**3 phot/cm**2/s), the four dominant galaxies (M31, Galaxy,…
The Magellanic Stream and several high velocity clouds have now been detected in optical line emission. The observed emission measures and kinematics are most plausibly explained by photoionization due to hot, young stars in the Galactic…
There has been much debate in recent decades as to what fraction of ionizing photons from star forming regions in the Galactic disk escape into the halo. The recent detection of the Magellanic Stream in optical line emission at the CTIO 4m…
There has been much debate in recent decades as to what fraction of ionizing photons from star forming regions in the Galactic disk escape into the halo. The recent detection of the Magellanic Stream in optical line emission at the CTIO 4m…
We investigate how much warm (T \sim 10^6 K) gas may exist in a Local Group corona, and, in particular, whether such a corona could be detected indirectly through its ionizing radiation. We calculate the non-LTE cooling of warm, low-density…
In this paper we make a quantitative study of the hypothesis that the diffuse H-alpha emitted from the discs of spiral galaxies owes its origin to the ionizing photons escaping from HII regions. We use the H-alpha measurements of the…
The Magellanic Stream, a gaseous tail that trails behind the Magellanic Clouds, could replenish the Milky Way with a tremendous amount of gas if it reaches the Galactic disk before it evaporates into the halo. To determine how the…
We estimate the total predicted Lyc emission rates of OB associations for which the complete census of O star spectral types exists. The results are compared to the observed H-alpha luminosities of the host H II regions. We find evidence…
The ionizing photons produced by massive stars are key actors in galaxy evolution. Ionizing photon production and escape is poorly understood. Improved space-based, spatially-resolved, multiplexed spectroscopic capabilities covering…
Some Lyman continuum photons are likely to escape from most galaxies, and these can play an important role in ionizing gas around and between galaxies, including gas that gives rise to Lyman alpha absorption. Thus the gas surrounding…
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…
We present deep Halpha spectroscopy towards several high-velocity clouds (HVCs) which vary in structure from compact (CHVCs) to the Magellanic Stream. The clouds range from being bright (~640 mR) to having upper limits on the order of 30 to…
The physical properties of the faint and extremely tenuous plasma in the far outskirts of galaxy clusters, the circumgalactic media of normal galaxies, and filaments of the cosmic web, remain one of the biggest unknowns in our story of…
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…
Since its discovery in 1996, the source of the bright H-alpha emission (up to 750 mR) along the Magellanic Stream has remained a mystery. There is no evidence of ionising stars within the HI stream, and the extended hot halo is far too…
The Epoch of Reionization marks the last major phase transition in the early Universe, during which the majority of neutral hydrogen once filling the intergalactic medium was ionized by the first galaxies. The James Webb Space Telescope is…
We study the ionizing sources in spiral galaxies and examine in more detail our Galaxy. Using Taylor & Cordes (1993) model we analyze the electron density in different parts of the Galaxy, and emphasize the still unsolved problems. Finally,…
Ionizing photons must have escaped from high-redshift galaxies, but the neutral high-redshift intergalactic medium makes it unlikely to directly detect these photons during the Epoch of Reionization. Indirect methods of studying ionizing…
As part of a large study to map the distribution of star formation across galactic disks, we have obtained deep Halpha images of the nearby Sculptor Group spirals NGC 247 and NGC 7793. These images are of sufficiently high quality that they…
Several lines of argument suggest that a large fraction of the baryons in the universe may be in the form of warm (T\sim 10^5-10^7 K) gas. In particular, loose groups of galaxies may contain substantial reservoirs of such gas. Observations…