Diffuse infrared emission from the galaxy. I. Solar neighborhood

Journal Article · Fri Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1988 · Astrophys. J.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/166526· OSTI ID:6724851

Boulanger, F; Perault, M

A large-scale study of the infrared emission originating in the solar neighborhood based on IRAS data is presented. Away from heating sources and outside molecular clouds, the infrared emission from the ISM is well-correlated with the column density of H I gas. The interstellar radiation field and the dust abundance are roughly uniform on scales of the order of 100 pc. The extinction in the polar caps is discussed, and the origin of the infrared emission from the solar neighborhood is investigated. It is shown that stars younger than a few 100 million yr are responsible for two-thirds of the infrared emission from the solar neighborhood, but that most of this emission comes from interstellar matter not associated with current star formation. The correlation between infrared and radio-continuum fluxes of galaxies breaks down on the scale of a few hundred pc around regions of star formation. 81 references.

• Research Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (USA); Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris (France)
• OSTI ID: 6724851
• Journal Information: Astrophys. J.; (United States), Journal Name: Astrophys. J.; (United States) Vol. 330; ISSN ASJOA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640105* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Galaxies
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON MONOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CHARGED PARTICLES
COSMIC DUST
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
DUSTS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
FLUIDS
GALAXIES
GASES
H1 REGIONS
HYDROGEN IONS
INFRARED RADIATION
INTERSTELLAR SPACE
IONIZED GASES
IONS
MILKY WAY
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIATION FLUX
RADIATIONS
RADIOWAVE RADIATION
SOLAR SYSTEM
SPACE
STELLAR RADIATION
ZODIACAL LIGHT