Discovery of High-velocity Hα Emission in the Direction of the Fermi Bubble
Open accessAbstract
Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper observations reveal high-velocity H α and [N ii]λ 6584 emission lines in the same direction and velocity as ultraviolet absorption-line features that have been previously associated with the biconical gamma-ray lobes known as the Fermi Bubbles. We measure an extinction-corrected intensity of for emission with line center v LSR = −221 ± 3 km s−1, corresponding to an emission measure of . This emission arises at the same velocity as Hubble Space Telescope/Cosmic Origins Spectrograph observations of ultraviolet absorption features detected in the PDS 456 quasar sight line that passes through the northern bubble near l = 10.°4, b = +11.°2. We estimate the total column density of ionized gas in this velocity component to be . The comparison of ionized gas emission and absorption yields an estimate for the characteristic density of n e,c = 1.8 ± 0.6 cm−3 and a characteristic length of L c = 0.56 ± 0.21 pc assuming 30% solar metallicity. For a temperature of —consistent with the measured line widths and [N ii]/H α line ratio—the gas has a thermal pressure of . Assuming the gas is ∼6.5 kpc distant, the derived density and pressure appear to be anomalously high for gas ∼1.3 kpc above the Galactic midplane. The large thermal pressure is comparable to both a hot halo or Fermi Bubble model, but suggest that the H α arises in an overpressurized zone.
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The Fermi/eROSITA bubbles: a look into the nuclear outflow from the Milky Way
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- Authors
- Krishnarao, D., Benjamin, R. A., & Haffner, L. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- University of Wisconsin–Whitewater (US)
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Daytona Beach Florida Campus (US)
- Corresponding author
- Krishnarao, Dhanesh
- Venue
- The Astrophysical Journal Letters
- Publisher
- American Astronomical Society
- Published
- 2020-08-01
- Volume
- 899
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- L11
- ISSN
- 2041-8205 (ISSN-L)
- 2041-8213
- OpenAlex
- W3029821182
- Cited by
- 15
- References
- 55
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 3
- FWCI
- 1.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- The Astrophysical Journal Letters (publishedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (AST-0607512, AST-1108911, AST-1714472/1715623, AST-1940634)
- NASA (NNX17AJ27G)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Nuclear and High Energy Physics › Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
- Keywords
- Fermi bubbles, H-alpha emission, high-velocity gas, PDS 456, quasar absorption lines, thermal pressure, Galactic halo, Wisconsin H-alpha Mapper
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