GDIGS and the Distribution of Diffuse Ionized Gas in the Milky Way
Abstract
We present results from the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) Diffuse Ionized Gas Survey (GDIGS), which traces ionized gas in the inner Galactic plane by measuring radio recombination line (RRL) emission between 4 and 8 GHz. The survey covers the area within 0.5 degrees of the Galactic plane, from Galactic longitudes 32.3 degrees to -5 degrees, but there are extensions above and below the plane in select fields and extra coverage around W47 and W49. We automatically Gaussian-decomposed the GDIGS Hydrogen RRL emission, and furthermore separate the emission of diffuse ionized gas (DIG) from that of HII regions. The height of the Gaussian serves as an indicator of emission measure, while the full width at half maximum reflects temperature. Our decompositions therefore allow us to explore how these properties vary with Galactocentric radius, Galactic latitude, and Galactic longitude. The velocities obtained from the decompositions also allow us to construct longitude-velocity diagrams, which are informative of the structure of the Milky Way and its spiral arms.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #236
- Pub Date:
- June 2020
- Bibcode:
- 2020AAS...23633302L