Full text loading...
Review Article
Free
Atomic and Ionized Microstructures in the Diffuse Interstellar Medium
- Snežana Stanimirović1, and Ellen G. Zweibel1,2
- Vol. 56:489-540 (Volume publication date September 2018) https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-astro-081817-051810
- First published as a Review in Advance on July 13, 2018
-
Copyright © 2018 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved
Abstract
It has been known for half a century that the interstellar medium (ISM) of our Galaxy is structured on scales as small as a few hundred kilometers, more than 10 orders of magnitude smaller than typical ISM structures and energy input scales. In this review we focus on neutral and ionized structures on spatial scales of a few to ∼104 AU, which appear to be highly overpressured, as these have the most important role in the dynamics and energy balance of interstellar gas: the tiny scale atomic structures (TSASs) and extreme scattering events (ESEs) as the most overpressured example of the tiny scale ionized structures (TSISs). We review observational results and highlight key physical processes at AU scales. We present evidence for and against microstructures as part of a universal turbulent cascade and as discrete structures, and we review their association with supernova remnants, the Local Bubble, and bright stars. We suggest a number of observational and theoretical programs that could clarify the nature of AU structures. TSAS and TSIS probe spatial scales in the range of what is expected for turbulent dissipation scales and are therefore of key importance for constraining exotic and not-well-understood physical processes that have implications for many areas of astrophysics. The emerging picture is one in which a magnetized, turbulent cascade, driven hard by a local energy source and acting jointly with phenomena such as thermal instability, is the source of these microstructures.
Article metrics loading...
Literature Cited
-
Amato E 2014. Int. J. Mod. Phys. D 23:1430013
-
Andrews SM, Meyer DM, Lauroesch JT 2001. Ap. J. Lett. 552:L73–76
-
Armstrong JW, Cordes JM, Rickett BJ 1981. Nature 291:561–64
-
Armstrong JW, Rickett BJ, Spangler SR 1995. Ap. J. 443:209–21
-
Audit E, Hennebelle P 2005. Astron. Astrophys. 433:1–13
-
Bannister K, Bignall H, Johnston S et al. 2016.a Astron. Telegr.No. 8696
-
Bannister KW, Stevens J, Tuntsov AV et al. 2016.b Science 351:354–56
-
Basu R, Rożko K, Lewandowski W, Kijak J, Dembska M 2016. MNRAS 458:2509–15
-
Begum A, Stanimirović S, Goss WM et al. 2010. Ap. J. 725:1779–85
-
Beresnyak A, Jones TW, Lazarian A 2009. Ap. J. 707:1541–49
-
Bertoldi F, McKee CF 1992. Ap. J. 395:140–57
-
Bignall HE, Croft S, Hovatta T et al. 2015. Advancing Astrophysics with the Square Kilometre Array (AASKA14) https://pos.sissa.it/215/058/pdf
-
Biskamp D, Schwarz E, Zeiler A, Celani A, Drake JF 1999. Phys. Plasmas 6:751–58
-
Boissé P, Bergeron J, Prochaska JX, Péroux C, York DG 2015. Astron. Astrophys. 581:A109
-
Boldyrev S, Gwinn C 2003. Ap. J. 584:791–96
-
Boldyrev S, Königl A 2006. Ap. J. 640:344–52
-
Brogan CL, Zauderer BA, Lazio TJ et al. 2005. Astron. J. 130:698–710
-
Burkhart B, Lazarian A, Balsara D, Meyer C, Cho J 2015. Ap. J. 805:118
-
Cha AN, Sembach KR 2000. Ap. J. Suppl. 126:399–426
-
Cho J, Lazarian A 2003. MNRAS 345:325–39
-
Cho J, Lazarian A 2009. Ap. J. 701:236–52
-
Cho J, Lazarian A, Vishniac ET 2002. Ap. J. Lett. 566:L49
-
Clark SE, Peek JEG, Putman ME 2014. Ap. J. 789:82
-
Clegg AW, Fey AL, Lazio TJW 1998. Ap. J. 496:253–66
-
Clifton TR, Frail DA, Kulkarni SR, Weisberg JM 1988. Ap. J. 333:332–40
-
Cognard I, Bourgois G, Lestrade JF et al. 1993. Nature 366:320–22
-
Coles WA, Frehlich RG, Rickett BJ, Codona JL 1987. Ap. J. 315:666–74
-
Coles WA, Kerr M, Shannon RM et al. 2015. Ap. J. 808:113
-
Cordes JM, Weisberg JM, Boriakoff V 1985. Ap. J. 288:221–47
-
Cowie LL 1975. MNRAS 173:429–36
-
Cowie LL, McKee CF 1977. Ap. J. 211:135–46
-
Cox DP 2005. Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 43:337–85
-
Crawford IA 2003. Ap. Space Sci. 285:661–75
-
Danks AC, Sembach KR 1995. Astron. J. 109:2627
-
Danks AC, Walborn NR, Vieira G et al. 2001. Ap. J. Lett. 547:L155–59
-
Davis RJ, Diamond PJ, Goss WM 1996. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 283:1105
-
Deshpande AA 2000. MNRAS 317:199–204
-
Deshpande AA, Dwarakanath KS, Goss WM 2000. Ap. J. 543:227–34
-
Deshpande AA, McCulloch PM, Radhakrishnan V, Anantharamaiah KR 1992. MNRAS 258:19P–21P
-
Dhawan V, Mirabel IF, Rodríguez LF 2000. Ap. J. 543:373–85
-
Diamond PJ, Goss WM, Romney JD et al. 1989. Ap. J. 347:302–6
-
Dickey JM, Crovisier J, Kazes I 1981. Astron. Astrophys. 98:271–85
-
Dickey JM, Lockman FJ 1990. Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 28:215–61
-
Dickey JM, McClure-Griffiths N, Gibson SJ et al. 2013. Publ. Astron. Soc. Aust. 30:e003
-
Dickey JM, Mebold U, Stanimirović S, Staveley-Smith L 2000. Ap. J. 536:756–72
-
Dickey JM, Salpeter EE, Terzian Y 1979. Ap. J. 228:465–74
-
Dieter NH, Welch WJ, Romney JD 1976. Ap. J. Lett. 206:L113–15
-
Dieter-Conklin N 2009. Astron. J. 137:3920–21
-
Dirks C, Meyer DM 2016. Ap. J. 819:45
-
Draine BT 1998. Ap. J. Lett. 509:L41–44
-
Draine BT 2011. Physics of the Interstellar and Intergalactic Medium Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press
-
Draine BT, Roberge WG, Dalgarno A 1983. Ap. J. 264:485–507
-
Drury LO, Downes TP 2012. MNRAS 427:2308–13
-
Dutta P, Chengalur JN, Roy N et al. 2014. MNRAS 442:647–55
-
Elmegreen BG, Scalo J 2004. Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 42:211–73
-
Faison MD, Goss WM 2001. Astron. J. 121:2706–22
-
Faison MD, Goss WM, Diamond PJ, Taylor GB 1998. Astron. J. 116:2916–28
-
Falkovich G, Lebedev V 1997. Phys. Rev. Lett. 79:4159
-
Ferrière K 1998. Ap. J. 497:759–76
-
Fiedler RL, Dennison B, Johnston KJ, Hewish A 1987.a Nature 326:675–78
-
Fiedler RL, Dennison B, Johnston KJ, Waltman EB, Simon RS 1994. Ap. J. 430:581–94
-
Fiedler RL, Waltman EB, Spencer JH et al. 1987.b Ap. J. Suppl. 65:319–84
-
Fiege JD, Pudritz RE 2000. MNRAS 311:85–104
-
Field GB, Goldsmith DW, Habing HJ 1969. Ap. J. Lett. 155:L149
-
Frail DA, Cordes JM, Hankins TH, Weisberg JM 1991. Ap. J. 382:168–81
-
Frail DA, Weisberg JM, Cordes JM, Mathers C 1994. Ap. J. 436:144–51
-
Genova R, Beckman JE, Bowyer S, Spicer T 1997. Ap. J. 484:761
-
Gerin M, Ruaud M, Goicoechea JR et al. 2015. Astron. Astrophys. 573:A30
-
Goldreich P, Sridhar S 1995. Ap. J. 438:763–75
-
Goldsmith PF 2013. Ap. J. 774:134
-
Goss WM, Richards AMS, Muxlow TWB, Thomasson P 2008. MNRAS 388:165–75
-
Gwinn CR 2001. Ap. J. 561:815–22
-
Hacker TL, Brunner RJ, Lundgren BF, York DG 2013. MNRAS 434:163–85
-
Hamidouche M, Lestrade JF 2007. Astron. Astrophys. 468:193–203
-
Haverkorn M, Goss WM 2007. SINS—Small Ionized and Neutral Structures in the Diffuse Interstellar Medium, ASP Conf. Ser. 365 Oren, UT: ASP
-
Haverkorn M, Spangler SR 2013. Space Sci. Rev. 178:483–511
-
Heeschen DS 1984. Astron. J. 89:1111–23
-
Heiles C 1997. Ap. J. 481:193–204
-
Heiles C, Stinebring D 2007. See Haverkorn & Goss 2007 331–46
-
Heiles C, Troland TH 2003. Ap. J. 586:1067–93
-
Heiles C, Troland TH 2004. Ap. J. Suppl. 151:271–97
-
Heiles C, Troland TH 2005. Ap. J. 624:773–93
-
Hennebelle P, Audit E 2007. Astron. Astrophys. 465:431–43
-
Hennebelle P, Audit E, Miville-Deschênes MA 2007. Astron. Astrophys. 465:445–56
-
Hennebelle P, Falgarone E 2012. Astron. Astrophys. Rev. 20:55
-
Herbig GH 1993. Ap. J. 407:142–56
-
Herrera-Camus R, Bolatto A, Wolfire M et al. 2017. Ap. J. 835:201
-
HI4PI Collab., Ben Bekhti N, Flöer L et al. 2016. Astron. Astrophys. 594:A116
-
Higdon JC 1984. Ap. J. 285:109–23
-
Higdon JC 1986. Ap. J. 309:342–61
-
Hill AS, Stinebring DR, Asplund CT et al. 2005. Ap. J. Lett. 619:L171
-
Hobbs LM, Ferlet R, Welty DE, Wallerstein G 1991. Ap. J. 378:586–98
-
Howes GG, Tenbarge JM, Dorland W 2011. Phys. Plasmas 18:102305
-
Inoue T, Inutsuka S 2008. Ap. J. 687:303–10
-
Inoue T, Inutsuka S, Koyama H 2006. Ap. J. 652:1331–38
-
Jauncey D, Bignall H, Kedziora-Chudczer L et al. 2016. Galaxies 4:62
-
Jenkins EB, Tripp TM 2011. Ap. J. 734:65
-
Johnston S, Koribalski B, Wilson W, Walker M 2003. MNRAS 341:941–47
-
Kalberla PMW, Kerp J 2016. Astron. Astrophys. 595:A37
-
Kalberla PMW, Schwarz UJ, Goss WM 1985. Astron. Astrophys. 144:27–36
-
Kameswara Rao N, Lambert DL, Reddy ABS et al. 2017. MNRAS 467:1186–92
-
Kanekar N, Chengalur JN 2001. MNRAS 325:631–35
-
Kaplan DL, Tingay SJ, Manoharan PK et al. 2015. Ap. J. Lett. 809:L12
-
Kim CG, Kim WT, Ostriker EC 2008. Ap. J. 681:1148–62
-
Klessen RS, Heitsch F, Mac Low MM 2000. Ap. J. 535:887–906
-
Koyama H, Inutsuka S 2002. Ap. J. Lett. 564:L97–L100
-
Kritsuk AG, Norman ML, Padoan P, Wagner R 2007. Ap. J. 665:416–31
-
Lam MT, Cordes JM, Chatterjee S et al. 2016. Ap. J. 821:66
-
Lauroesch JT 2007. See Haverkorn & Goss 2007 40–50
-
Lauroesch JT, Meyer DM 1999. Ap. J. Lett. 519:L181–84
-
Lauroesch JT, Meyer DM 2002. Bull. Am. Astron. Soc. 34:1178
-
Lauroesch JT, Meyer DM 2003. Ap. J. Lett. 591:L123
-
Lauroesch JT, Meyer DM, Watson JK, Blades JC 1998. Ap. J. Lett. 507:L89–92
-
Lazarian A, Beresnyak A, Yan H, Opher M, Liu Y 2009. Space Sci. Rev. 143:387–413
-
Lazarian A, Pogosyan D 2004. Ap. J. 616:943–65
-
Lazio TJW, Brogan CL, Goss WM, Stanimirović S 2009. Astron. J. 137:4526–37
-
Lazio TJW, Fey AL, Dennison B et al. 2000. Ap. J. 534:706–17
-
Lazio TJW, Gaume RA, Claussen MJ et al. 2001.a Ap. J. 546:267–72
-
Lazio TJW, Ojha R, Fey AL et al. 2008. Ap. J. 672:115–21
-
Lazio TJW, Waltman EB, Ghigo FD et al. 2001.b Ap. J. Suppl. 136:265–392
-
Lee LC, Jokipii JR 1975. Ap. J. 196:695–707
-
Lee MY, Stanimirović S, Douglas KA et al. 2012. Ap. J. 748:75
-
Lestrade JF, Rickett BJ, Cognard I 1998. Astron. Astrophys. 334:1068–84
-
Li PS, McKee CF, Klein RI 2006. Ap. J. 653:1280–91
-
Liszt H, Lucas R 1996. Astron. Astrophys. 314:917–26
-
Lithwick Y, Goldreich P 2001. Ap. J. 562:279–96
-
Mac Low MM, Balsara DS, Kim J, de Avillez MA 2005. Ap. J. 626:864–76
-
Maitia V, Lestrade JF, Cognard I 2003. Ap. J. 582:972–77
-
Marscher AP, Moore EM, Bania TM 1993. Ap. J. Lett. 419:L101
-
McClure-Griffiths NM, Stanimirovic S, Murray C et al. 2015. Advancing Astrophysics with the Square Kilometre Array (AASKA14) https://pos.sissa.it/215/130/pdf
-
McEvoy CM, Smoker JV, Dufton PL et al. 2015. MNRAS 451:1396–412
-
McKee CF 2001.In From Darkness to Light: Origin and Evolution of Young Stellar Clusters, Astron. Soc. Pac. Conf. Proc. 243, ed. T Montmerle, P André, p. 155. San Francisco: Astron. Soc. Pac.
-
McKee CF, Cowie LL 1977. Ap. J. 215:213–25
-
McKee CF, Ostriker JP 1977. Ap. J. 218:148–69
-
McKee CF, Zweibel EG 1992. Ap. J. 399:551–62
-
Meyer DM 1990. Ap. J. Lett. 364:L5–8
-
Meyer DM 1994. The First Symposium on the Infrared Cirrus and Diffuse Interstellar Clouds RM Cutri, WB Latter ASP Conf. Ser. 583–11 Oren, UT: ASP
-
Meyer DM, Blades JC 1996. Ap. J. Lett. 464:L179
-
Meyer DM, Dirks C, Lauroesch JT 2015. Am. Astron. Soc. Meet. Abstr. 225:141.23
-
Meyer DM, Lauroesch JT 1999. Ap. J. Lett. 520:L103–106
-
Meyer DM, Lauroesch JT, Peek JEG, Heiles C 2012. Ap. J. 752:119
-
Minter AH, Balser DS, Kartaltepe JS 2005. Ap. J. 631:376–80
-
Miville-Deschênes MA, Martin PG, Abergel A et al. 2010. Astron. Astrophys. 518:L104
-
Moore EM, Marscher AP 1995. Ap. J. 452:671
-
Münch G 1953. Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac. 65:179
-
Münch G 1957. Ap. J. 125:42
-
Murphy T, Chatterjee S, Kaplan D 2013. Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac. 30:e006
-
Murray CE, Stanimirović S, Goss WM et al. 2015. Ap. J. 804:89
-
Murray CE, Stanimirović S, Goss WM, et al 2018. Ap. J. In press. arXiv:1806.06065
-
Murray CE, Stanimirović S, Kim CG et al. 2017. Ap. J. 837:55
-
Ossenkopf V, Mac Low MM 2002. Astron. Astrophys. 390:307–26
-
Pan K, Federman SR, Welty DE 2001. Ap. J. Lett. 558:L105–108
-
Pen UL, King L 2012. MNRAS 421:L132–36
-
Phillips JA, Wolszczan A 1991. Ap. J. Lett. 382:L27–L30
-
Points SD, Lauroesch JT, Meyer DM 2004. Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac. 116:801–18
-
Pushkarev AB, Kovalev YY, Lister ML et al. 2013. Astron. Astrophys. 555:A80
-
Rao NK, Muneer S, Lambert DL, Varghese BA 2016. MNRAS 455:2529–50
-
Ray A, Loeb A 2017. Ap. J. 836:135
-
Rickett BJ 1970. MNRAS 150:67
-
Rickett BJ 1977. Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 15:479–504
-
Rickett BJ 1990. Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 28:561–605
-
Rickett BJ, Coles WA, Bourgois G 1984. Astron. Astrophys. 134:390–95
-
Rickett BJ, Johnston S, Tomlinson T, Reynolds J 2009. MNRAS 395:1391–402
-
Rickett BJ, Quirrenbach A, Wegner R, Krichbaum TP, Witzel A 1995. Astron. Astrophys. 293:479–92
-
Romani RW, Blandford RD, Cordes JM 1987. Nature 328:324–26
-
Roy N, Chengalur JN, Dutta P, Bharadwaj S 2010. MNRAS 404:L45–49
-
Roy N, Minter AH, Goss WM, Brogan CL, Lazio TJW 2012. Ap. J. 749:144
-
Scalo J, Elmegreen BG 2004. Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 42:275–316
-
Scheuer PAG 1968. Ap. J. Lett. 151:L139
-
Scheuer PAG, Tsytovich VN 1970. Ap. Lett. 7:125
-
Shishov VI, Smirnova TV, Sieber W et al. 2003. Astron. Astrophys. 404:557–67
-
Shraiman BI, Siggia ED 2000. Nature 405:639–46
-
Simon JD, Shappee BJ, Pojmanski G et al. 2017. arXiv:1708.07822 [astro-ph.SR]
-
Smith KT, Fossey SJ, Cordiner MA et al. 2013. MNRAS 429:939–53
-
Smith KW, Terry PW 2011. Ap. J. 730:133
-
Smoker JV, Bagnulo S, Cabanac R et al. 2011. MNRAS 414:59–75
-
Spitzer LJ 1978. Physical Processes in the Interstellar Medium New York: Wiley
-
Stanimirović S 2009. Space Sci. Rev. 143:291–301
-
Stanimirović S, Heiles C, Kanekar N 2007. See Haverkorn & Goss 2007 22–27
-
Stanimirović S, Murray CE, Lee MY, Heiles C, Miller J 2014. Ap. J. 793:132
-
Stanimirović S, Weisberg J, Dickey JM et al. 2003. Ap. J. 592:953
-
Stanimirović S, Weisberg JM, Hedden A, Devine KE, Green JT 2003. Ap. J. Lett. 598:L23
-
Stanimirović S, Weisberg JM, Pei Z, Tuttle K, Green JT 2010. Ap. J. 720:415–34
-
Stinebring D 2007. See Haverkorn & Goss 2007 254–64
-
Stutzki J, Bensch F, Heithausen A, Ossenkopf V, Zielinsky M 1998. Astron. Astrophys. 336:697–720
-
Tennekes H, Lumley JL 1972. A First Course in Turbulence Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
-
Terry PW, Smith KW 2007. Ap. J. 665:402–15
-
Terry PW, Smith KW 2008. Phys. Plasmas 15:056502
-
Tilley DA, Balsara DS 2011. MNRAS 415:3681–92
-
Tuntsov AV, Bignall HE, Walker MA 2013. MNRAS 429:2562–68
-
Tuntsov AV, Stevens J, Bannister KW et al. 2017. MNRAS 469:5023–32
-
van Haasteren R 2014. Gravitational Wave Detection and Data Analysis for Pulsar Timing Arrays New York: Springer
-
van Loon JT, Bailey M, Tatton BL et al. 2013. Astron. Astrophys. 550:A108
-
Walker M, Wardle M 1998. Ap. J. Lett. 498:L125–28
-
Wardle M, Walker M 1999. Ap. J. Lett. 527:L109–12
-
Warhaft Z 2000. Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 32:203–40
-
Watson JK, Meyer DM 1996. Ap. J. Lett. 473:L127
-
Weisberg JM, Johnston S, Koribalski B, Stanimirović S 2005. Science 309:106–10
-
Weisberg JM, Rankin J, Boriakoff V 1980. Astron. Astrophys. 88:84–93
-
Weisberg JM, Stanimirović S 2007. See Haverkorn & Goss 2007 28–39
-
Weisberg JM, Stanimirović S, Xilouris K et al. 2008. Ap. J. 674:286–94
-
Welty DE 2007. Ap. J. 668:1012–27
-
Welty DE, Simon T, Hobbs LM 2008. MNRAS 388:323–34
-
Witzel A, Heeschen DS, Schalinski C, Krichbaum T 1986. Mitt. Astron. Gesellschaft Hamburg 65:239
-
Wolfire MG 2015. Highlights Astron. 16:600–2
-
Wolfire MG, McKee CF, Hollenbach D, Tielens AGGM 2003. Ap. J. 587:278–311
-
Wright JT, Sigurdsson S 2016. Ap. J. Lett. 829:L3
-
Zhdankin V, Boldyrev S, Mason J 2017. MNRAS 468:4025–29
-
Zhdankin V, Uzdensky DA, Boldyrev S 2015. Phys. Rev. Lett. 114:065002
-
Zhdankin V, Uzdensky DA, Perez JC, Boldyrev S 2013. Ap. J. 771:124
-
Zweibel E 2006. Paper presented at Small Ionized and Neutral Structures in the Diffuse Interstellar Medium. Socorro, NM, May 23. http://www.astro.wisc.edu/∼sstanimi/Tiny/SINS_Talks1/zweibel1.pdf
-
Zweibel EG 2002. Ap. J. 567:962–70
-
Zweibel EG 2015. Magnetic Fields in Diffuse Media A Lazarian, EM de Gouveia Dal Pino, C Melioli 285–309 New York: Springer
-
Zweibel EG, Brandenburg A 1997. Ap. J. 478:563–68
-
Zweibel EG, Heiles C 1997. Nature 385:131–36
Data & Media loading...
- Article Type: Review Article
Most Read This Month
Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed
-
-
The Chemical Composition of the Sun
Vol. 47 (2009), pp. 481–522
-
-
-
STAR FORMATION IN GALAXIES ALONG THE HUBBLE SEQUENCE
Vol. 36 (1998), pp. 189–231
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Coevolution (Or Not) of Supermassive Black Holes and Host Galaxies
John Kormendy, and Luis C. HoVol. 51 (2013), pp. 511–653
-
-
-
-
-
Embedded Clusters in Molecular Clouds
Vol. 41 (2003), pp. 57–115
-
-
-
-
-
Star Formation in the Milky Way and Nearby Galaxies
Vol. 50 (2012), pp. 531–608
-
- More Less