The Distribution of Dust Clouds in the Interstellar Medium

Abstract

view Abstract Citations (10) References (17) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS The Distribution of Dust Clouds in the Interstellar Medium Dring, Andrew R. ; Murthy, Jayant ; Henry, R. C. ; Walker, H. J. Abstract Murthy, Walker, & Henry (1992) examined 745 O, B, F and G stars on the IRAS Skyflux plates in a search for dust clouds that are heated by the stars and found 123 clouds near 106 stars by detection of excess 60 microns emission. We have reanalyzed their sample using the Infrared Sky Survey Atlas (ISSA) data and found 194 clouds near 138 stars. We find a filling factor of (0.02 1 0.01) for dust of density greater than ∼3.0 H atoms cm-3 to which we are complete. We were able to find a good model fit to the data set with these parameters for the dust clouds: filling factor = 0.085±003 scale height z = 250±100 pc, radius power-law exponent α = -4.26±0.25, and density power-law exponent β = -1.15±0.1, where the filling factor includes material in the density range 0.01-100 H atoms cm-3; however, there is evidence to suggest that the region probed by these stars is a special environment. We also find significantly lower dust densities near O stars than near B stars. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: February 1996 DOI: 10.1086/176771 Bibcode: 1996ApJ...457..764D Keywords: ISM: DUST; EXTINCTION; ISM: CLOUDS; ISM: REFLECTION NEBULAE full text sources ADS | data products SIMBAD (100)