TY  - JOUR
A1  - Liu, Ruo-Yu
A1  - Yan, Huirong
A1  - Wang, Xiang-Yu
A1  - Shao, Shi
A1  - Li, Hui
T1  - Gamma-Ray production in the extended halo of the galaxy and possible implications for the origin of galactic cosmic rays
JF  - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics
N2  - Various studies have implied the existence of a gaseous halo around the Galaxy extending out to similar to 100 kpc. Galactic cosmic rays (CRs) that propagate to the halo, either by diffusion or by convection with the possibly existing large-scale Galactic wind, can interact with the gas therein and produce gamma-rays via proton-proton collision. We calculate the CR distribution in the halo and the gamma-ray flux, and explore the dependence of the result on model parameters such as diffusion coefficient, CR luminosity, and CR spectral index. We find that the current measurement of isotropic gamma-ray background (IGRB) at less than or similar to TeV with the Fermi Large Area Telescope already approaches a level that can provide interesting constraints on the properties of Galactic CR (e.g., with CR luminosity L-CR <= 1041 erg s(-1)). We also discuss the possibilities of the Fermi bubble and IceCube neutrinos originating from the proton-proton collision between CRs and gas in the halo, as well as the implication of our results for the baryon budget of the hot circumgalactic medium of our Galaxy. Given that the isotropic gamma-ray background is likely to be dominated by unresolved extragalactic sources, future telescopes may extract more individual sources from the IGRB, and hence put even more stringent restrictions on the relevant quantities (such as Galactic CR luminosity and baryon budget in the halo) in the presence of a turbulent halo that we consider.
KW  - cosmic rays
KW  - Galaxy: halo
KW  - gamma rays: diffuse background
KW  - neutrinos
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aaf567
SN  - 0004-637X
SN  - 1538-4357
VL  - 871
IS  - 1
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bouma, Sietske Jeltje Deirdre
A1  - Richter, Philipp
A1  - Fechner, Cora
T1  - A population of high-velocity absorption-line systems residing in the Local Group
JF  - Astronomy and astrophysics : an international weekly journal
N2  - Aims. We investigated the ionisation conditions and distances of Galactic high-velocity clouds (HVCs) in the Galactic halo and beyond in the direction of the Local Group (LG) barycentre and anti-barycentre, by studying spectral data of 29 extragalactic background sources obtained with the Cosmic Origins Spectropgraph (COS) installed on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Methods. We model column-densities of low, intermediate, and high ions such as Si ii, C ii, Si iii, Si vi, and C iv, and use these data to construct a set of Cloudy ionisation models. Results. In total, we found 69 high-velocity absorption components along the 29 lines of sight. The components in the direction of the LG barycentre span the entire range of studied velocities, 100 less than or similar to vertical bar nu(LSR)vertical bar less than or similar to 400 km s(-1), while those in the anti-barycentre sample have velocities up to about 300 km s(-1). For 49 components, we infer the gas densities. In the direction of the LG barycentre, the gas densities exhibit a wide range from log nH = -3.96 to -2.55, while in the anti-barycentre direction the densities are systematically higher, log nH > -3.25. The barycentre absorbers can be split into two groups based on their density: a high-density group with log nH > -3.54, which can be affected by the Milky Way radiation field, and a low-density group (log nH <= -3.54). The latter has very low thermal pressures of P/k < 7.3 Kcm(-3). Conclusions. Our study shows that part of the absorbers in the LG barycentre direction trace gas at very low gas densities and thermal pressures. These properties indicate that the absorbers are located beyond the virial radius of the Milky Way. Our study also confirms results from earlier, single-sightline studies, suggesting the presence of a metal-enriched intragroup medium filling the LG near its barycentre.
KW  - Galaxy: halo
KW  - Galaxy: structure
KW  - Galaxy: evolution
KW  - ISM: kinematics and dynamics
KW  - techniques: spectroscopic
KW  - ultraviolet: ISM
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201935078
SN  - 1432-0746
VL  - 627
PB  - EDP Sciences
CY  - Les Ulis
ER  -