A Modern Look at ‘Interstellar Clouds’

Abstract

We compare past and present modes of investigation of the structure of the interstellar gas. Many aspects of the interstellar cloud model are invalid.Interstellar optical absorption lines and Hi21-cm emission lines show a number of very large aggregates with properties similar to those of ‘cloud complexes’. At nonzero velocities especially for b<0°, exist optical lines which have no Hicounterparts. These are almost certainly produced in low-density gas clouds; perhaps the intercloud medium is itself cloudy.Maps of Hicolumn density taken over large velocity ranges do not reveal much small-scale structure. This fact cannot easily be reconciled with the statistical analyses of interstellar reddening. The maps do reveal large, coherent gas structures which are often filamentary in shape and at least sometimes aligned parallel to the interstellar magnetic field.Maps of Hicolumn density over small velocity ranges show much small-scale structure, often filamentary in shape. The filaments are almost universally oriented parallel to the interstellar magnetic field and have Doppler velocity gradients along their lengths. In one area the geometry of the field and gas almost exclusively suggests Alfvén-type motions.