Understanding the Ionized Gas in the Milky Way Galaxy

West Virginia University Research Corporation, Morgantown WV

Investigators

Abstract

This astronomy project aims at improving our understanding of the thin, warm gas spread throughout the Milky Way Galaxy. The team hope to understand how this gas, known as the "Warm Ionized Medium" or WIM, relates to the large, dense clouds in the galaxy where stars are known to form. The WIM is notoriously hard to observe because it is so thin and tenuous. Even so, the WIM is important because it makes up almost 20% of the gas in the galaxy. Understanding how the WIM affects the birth of stars and the evolution of the Milky Way are important goals of this project. The researchers will use the NSF-funded Green Bank Telescope (GBT) to observe radio emission from the hydrogen atoms in the WIM. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the WIM. The team from West Virginia University (WVU) will map the inner regions of the Milky Way, pausing to take deeper observations of hot bubbles of gas known as "HII regions" for comparison with the WIM. The GBT is the most sensitive telescope available for observing the WIM. Almost 40% of the map data have already been obtained. Completing the maps and analyzing these important data will be of considerable use to the astronomy community. Graduate, undergraduate, and even local high school students will be involved in this project. The team will contribute to West Virginia's Vision 2015 initiative to improve the state's workforce training in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). The Principle Investigator has been involved in this effort for a number of years, and with this funding will extend the program to more schools in the area. The team's NSF-supported project "Mapping the Galaxy" allows high school students to identify HII regions and then conduct follow-up observations at the GBT. This program will be extended from one to three schools, and from roughly 15 to more than 50 students. WVU students will also be involved in this outreach activity. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.