COLD MILKY WAY H i GAS IN FILAMENTS

Abstract

ABSTRACT We investigate data from the Galactic Effelsberg-Bonn H i Survey, supplemented with data from the third release of the Galactic All Sky Survey (GASS III) observed at Parkes. We explore the all-sky distribution of the local Galactic H i gas with ∣ v LSR ∣ < 25 km s−1 on angular scales of 11′–16′. Unsharp masking is applied to extract small-scale features. We find cold filaments that are aligned with polarized dust emission and conclude that the cold neutral medium (CNM) is mostly organized in sheets that are, because of projection effects, observed as filaments. These filaments are associated with dust ridges, aligned with the magnetic field measured on the structures by Planck at 353 GHz. The CNM above latitudes ∣ b ∣ > 20 ° is described by a log-normal distribution, with a median Doppler temperature T D = 223 K, derived from observed line widths that include turbulent contributions. The median neutral hydrogen (H i) column density is N H i ≃ 1019.1 cm−2. These CNM structures are embedded within a warm neutral medium with N H i ≃ 1020 cm−2. Assuming an average distance of 100 pc, we derive for the CNM sheets a thickness of ≲0.3 pc. Adopting a magnetic field strength of B tot = (6.0 ± 1.8) μG, proposed by Heiles & Troland, and assuming that the CNM filaments are confined by magnetic pressure, we estimate a thickness of 0.09 pc. Correspondingly, the median volume density is in the range 14 ≲ n ≲ 47 cm−3.