A LAST LOOK AT THE MICROWAVE HAZE/BUBBLES WITH WMAP

Journal Article · Tue May 01 04:00:00 EDT 2012 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/750/1/17· OSTI ID:22034623

Dobler, Gregory ^[1]

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1. Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara Kohn Hall, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States)

The microwave 'haze' was first discovered with the initial release of the full sky data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). It is diffuse emission toward the center of our Galaxy with spectral behavior that makes it difficult to categorize as any of the previously known emission mechanisms at those wavelengths. With now seven years of WMAP data publicly available, we have learned much about the nature of the haze, and with the release of data from the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope and the discovery of the gamma-ray haze/bubbles, we have had a spectacular confirmation of its existence at other wavelengths. As the WMAP mission winds down and the Planck mission prepares to release data, I take a last look at what WMAP has to tell us about the origin of this unique Galactic feature. Much like the gamma rays, the microwave haze/bubbles is/are elongated in latitude with respect to longitude by a factor of roughly two, and at high latitudes, the microwave emission cuts off sharply above {approx}35 Degree-Sign (compared to {approx}50 Degree-Sign in the gammas). The hard spectrum of electrons required to generate the microwave synchrotron is consistent with that required to generate gamma-ray emission via inverse Compton scattering, though it is likely that these signals result from distinct regions of the spectrum ({approx}10 GeV for the microwaves and {approx}1 TeV for the gammas). While there is no evidence for significant haze polarization in the seven-year WMAP data, I demonstrate explicitly that it is unlikely such a signal would be detectable above the noise.

• OSTI ID: 22034623
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 750; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ANISOTROPY
ASTROPHYSICS
COMPTON EFFECT
COSMIC ELECTRONS
EMISSION SPECTRA
GAMMA ASTRONOMY
GAMMA RADIATION
GAMMA SPECTRA
GEV RANGE
MICROWAVE RADIATION
MILKY WAY
NOISE
PHOTON EMISSION
POLARIZATION
PROBES
TEV RANGE