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Title: A SPITZER-MIPS SEARCH FOR DUST IN COMPACT HIGH-VELOCITY H I CLOUDS

Journal Article · · Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online)
 [1]; ;  [2]; ;  [3]
  1. Carnegie Observatories, 813 Santa Barbara St., Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States)
  2. Department of Astronomy, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States)
  3. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)

We employ three-band Spitzer-MIPS observations to search for cold dust emission in three neutral hydrogen compact high-velocity clouds (CHVCs) in the vicinity of the Milky Way. Far-infrared emission correlated with H I column density was previously reported in HVC Complex C, indicating that this object contains dust heated by the Galactic radiation field at its distance of {approx}10 kpc. Assuming published Spitzer, IRAS, and Planck, IR-H I correlations for Complex C, our Spitzer observations are of sufficient depth to directly detect 160 {mu}m dust emission in the CHVCs if it is present at the same level as in Complex C, but no emission is detected in any of the targets. For one of the targets (CHVC289) which has well-localized H I clumps, we therefore conclude that it is fundamentally different from Complex C, with either a lower dust-to-gas ratio or a greater distance from the Galactic disk (and consequently cooler dust temperature). Firm conclusions cannot be drawn for the other two Spitzer-observed CHVCs since their small-scale H I structures are not sufficiently well known; nonetheless, no extended dust emission is apparent despite their relatively high H I column densities. The lack of dust emission in CHVC289 suggests that at least some compact high-velocity clouds objects may exhibit very low dust-to-gas ratios and/or greater Galactocentric distances than large HVC complexes.

OSTI ID:
22034675
Journal Information:
Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online), Vol. 143, Issue 4; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1538-3881
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English