| Type |
Conference Paper |
| Names |
L. Matthew Haffner, R. J. Reynolds, G. J. Madsen, A. S. Hill, K. A. Barger, K. P. Jaehnig, E. J. Mierkiewicz, J. W. Percival |
| Proceedings Title |
Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society |
| Conference Name |
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #215, #45.28 |
| Volume |
42 |
| Pages |
265 |
| Date |
January 1, 2010 |
| URL |
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010AAS...21541528H |
| Library Catalog |
NASA ADS |
| Abstract |
After a successful eleven-year campaign at Kitt Peak, we moved the
Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper (WHAM) to Cerro Tololo in early 2009. Here we
present some of the early data after the first nine months under
southern skies. These maps begin to complete the first all-sky,
kinematic survey of the diffuse Hα emission from the Milky Way.
Much of this emission arises from the Warm Ionized Medium (WIM), a
significant component of the ISM that extends a few kiloparsecs above
the Galactic disk. The WHAM instrument consists of a 0.6 m primary lens
housed in a steerable siderostat coupled to a 15 cm dual-etalon
Fabry-Perot spectrometer. The optical configuration delivers a spatially
integrated spectrum from a one-degree beam on the sky covering 200 km/s
with 12 km/s spectral resolution. Short, 30-second exposures allow us to
cover the observable sky in about two years at sensitivity levels of
about 0.1 R (EM 0.2 pc cm-6). While this first look at the
data focuses on the Hα survey, WHAM is also capable of observing
many other optical emission lines, revealing fascinating trends in the
temperature and ionization state of the WIM. Our ongoing studies of the
physical conditions of diffuse ionized gas will continue in the south
following the Hα survey. In addition, future observations using
our survey mode will cover the full velocity range of the Magellanic
Stream, Bridge, and Clouds to trace the ionized gas associated with
these neighboring systems. WHAM is supported by NSF award AST-0607512
and has made this smooth relocation south due to the excellent staff at
KPNO and CTIO. |