Modeling the Local Interstellar Medium |
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| Authors: | Dieter Breitschwerdt |
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| Institution: | (1) Heisenberg Fellow, Germany;(2) Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, Postfach 1603, D-85740 Garching, Germany |
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| Abstract: | The state of our observational and theoretical knowledge of the localinterstellar medium (LISM) is reviewed. The LISM stretches out from thelocal Cloud, surrounding the solar system to the boundary of the LocalBubble, which is a region of distinct anticorrelation between HI (N
H< 1020 cm-2) and 1/4 keV diffuse soft X-rays. After discussingsome key observations in soft X-rays, obtained by ROSAT and DXS, and inthe EUV by the EUVE satellite and the EURD instrument onboard Minisat, Iwill critically review models of the LISM. Since we cannot determine theplasma state (temperature, density, etc.) directly, the best plasmadiagnostic tool is high resolution spectroscopy. The interpretationof the data then has to rely heavily on plasma emission models. I willpoint out several caveats in the standard procedure. Preference is givento dynamical models of the Local Bubble in general and to non-equilibriumplasma emission models in particular, which have to be calculatedself-consistently. Such a model can explain (i) the deficiency of EUVlines as observed by EUVE, (ii) the dispersion measure and scintillationproperties of a nearby pulsar, (iii) the existence of local neutral HIclouds, and (iv) OVI absorption line widths. New model spectra of theLISM will be presented and briefly compared with DXS, EUVE and preliminaryEURD results. |
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