Small-scale electron density turbulence in the interstellar medium

Abstract

view Abstract Citations (321) References (74) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS Small-scale electron density turbulence in the interstellar medium. Cordes, J. M. ; Weisberg, J. M. ; Boriakoff, V. Abstract Diffraction phenomena associated with the scattering of pulsar radiation are used to constrain the power spectrum and galactic distribution of electron density fluctuations. The authors combine new measurements of interstellar scintillation bandwidths and pulse broadening times with those from the literature to yield information on 76 lines of sight. For individual objects, the scaling of scintillation bandwidth with frequency is in agreement with a Kolmogorov spectrum. The study of all objects, however, indicates strong disagreement with a model in which turbulence is uniformly distributed. The data suggest a two-component model for electron density turbulence: (1) a clumped medium with scale height H ⪉ 100 pc; (2) a nearly uniform medium with H ⪆ 0.5 kpc. Scattering material is ubiquitous but is preferentially located near regions of large energy input into the interstellar medium. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: January 1985 DOI: 10.1086/162784 Bibcode: 1985ApJ...288..221C Keywords: Electron Density (Concentration); Interstellar Matter; Pulsars; Turbulence; Cross Correlation; Line Of Sight; Radiative Transfer; Stellar Radiation; Stellar Spectra; Wave Scattering; Astrophysics full text sources ADS | data products SIMBAD (75)