Year: 2001
Type: article
Abstract: Recent observations of high-velocity clouds (HVCs) have revealed compression fronts and tail-shaped features of H I, suggesting that they are interacting with an external medium. We perform three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of HVCs moving through a diffuse hot gaseous component, investigating the behavior of both extragalactic dark matter-dominated HVCs and nearby pure gas clouds that may be accreting onto the Galactic disk via a Galactic fountain. Both scenarios can give rise to similar features as observed if the external medium has a density greater than 10 -4 cm -3 . Observations suggest that this may be too high for a hot ionized halo or intergalactic gas and supports the Galactic fountain origin, a model that can also account for the high fraction of HVCs with tails and asymmetrical morphologies.
Source: The Astrophysical Journal
DOI: 10.1086/322866
Authors: Vicent Quilis, Ben Moore
Institution: Durham University
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funder: Virgo Consortium
OpenAlex ID: W2007509426