Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-9q27g Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-19T20:45:20.593Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Galactic Distribution of Electron Density Microstructure Inferred from Radio Scattering Observations*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

James Cordes*
Affiliation:
Astronomy Department, Cornell University

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

I first review the observables and optics of interstellar seeing associated with radio wave scattering in the interstellar medium. I then describe the Galactic distribution of electron density and its fluctuations, as inferred from a number of observables, including angular and pulse broadening, diffractive scintillations, and dispersion measures. Propects for improving the Galactic model are outlined.

Type
Chapter One Introduction to Interstellar Scintillation
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer 2001

Footnotes

*

Work supported by NSF Grant 9819931.

References

Armstrong, J.W., Rickett, B.J. and Spangler, S.R.: 1995, Electron Density Power Spectrum in the Local Interstellar Medium, Astrophys. J. 443, 209221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cordes, J.M. and Lazio, T.J.W.: 1991, Interstellar Scattering Effects on the Detection of Narrow-band Signals, Astrophys. J. 376, 123134.Google Scholar
Cordes, J.M. and Rickett, B.J.: 1998, Diffractive Interstellar Scintillation Time Scales & Velocities, Astrophys. J. 507, 846860.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cordes, J.M., Weisberg, J.M., Frail, D.A., Spangler, S.R. and Ryan, M.: 1991, The Galactic Distribution of Free Electrons, Nature 354, 121124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frail, D.A. et al.: 1993, Anisotropic Scattering of OH/IR Stars Toward the Galactic Center, Astrophys. J. Lett. 427, L4346.Google Scholar
Lazio, T.J.W.: 1997, Genetic Algorithms, Pulsar Planets and Ionized Interstellar Microturbulence, PhD Thesis, Cornell University.Google Scholar
Lazio, T.J.W. and Cordes, J.M.: 1998a, The Radial Extent and Warp of the Ionized Galactic Disk. II., Astrophys. J. 497, 238252.Google Scholar
Lazio, T.J.W. and Cordes, J.M.: 1998b, Hyperstrong Radio-Wave Scattering in the Galactic Center. I.II, Astrophys. J. 505, 715731.Google Scholar
Lee, L.C. and Jokipii, J.R.: 1976, The Irregularity Spectrum in Interstellar Space, Astrophys. J. 206, 735743.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rickett, B.J.: 1990, Radio Propagation Through the Turbulent Interstellar Plasma, Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 28, 561605.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, J.H. and Cordes, J.M.: 1993, Pulsar Distances and the Galactic Distribution of Free Electrons, Astrophys. J. 411, 674684.Google Scholar