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The ideal spectral averaging method depends on one’s science goals and the available information about one’s data. Including low-quality data in the average can decrease the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N), which may necessitate an optimization method or a consideration of different weighting schemes. Here, we explore a variety of spectral averaging methods. We investigate the use of three weighting schemes during averaging: weighting by the signal divided by the variance (“intensity-noise weighting”), weighting by the inverse of the variance (“noise weighting”), and uniform weighting. Whereas for intensity-noise weighting the S/N is maximized when all spectra are averaged, for noise and uniform weighting we find that averaging the 35%–45% of spectra with the highest S/N results in the highest S/N average spectrum. With this intensity cutoff, the average spectrum with noise or uniform weighting has ∼95% of the intensity of the spectrum created from intensity-noise weighting. We apply our spectral averaging methods to GBT Diffuse Ionized Gas hydrogen radio recombination line data to determine the ionic abundance ratio,y⁺, and discuss future applications of the methodology.

 

The Green Bank Telescope Diffuse Ionized Gas Survey (GDIGS) traces ionized gas in the Galactic midplane by observing radio recombination line (RRL) emission from 4 to 8 GHz. The nominal survey zone is 32.°3 >ℓ> −5°, ∣b∣ < 0.°5. Here, we analyze GDIGS Hnαionized gas emission toward discrete sources. Using GDIGS data, we identify the velocity of 35 Hiiregions that have multiple detected RRL velocity components. We identify and characterize RRL emission from 88 Hiiregions that previously lacked measured ionized gas velocities. We also identify and characterize RRL emission from eight locations that appear to be previously unidentified Hiiregions and 30 locations of RRL emission that do not appear to be Hiiregions based on their lack of mid-infrared emission. This latter group may be a compact component of the Galactic Diffuse Ionized Gas. There are an additional 10 discrete sources that have anomalously high RRL velocities for their locations in the Galactic plane. We compare these objects’ RRL data to¹³CO, Hi,and mid-infrared data, and find that these sources do not have the expected 24μm emission characteristic of Hiiregions. Based on this comparison we do not think these objects are Hiiregions, but we are unable to classify them as a known type of object.

 

We report on the discovery of linear filaments observed in the CO(1-0) emission for a ∼2′ field of view toward the Sgr E star-forming region, centered at (l,b) = (358.°720, 0.°011). The Sgr E region is thought to be at the turbulent intersection of the “far dust lane” associated with the Galactic bar and the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ). This region is subject to strong accelerations, which are generally thought to inhibit star formation, yet Sgr E contains a large number of Hiiregions. We present¹²CO(1-0),¹³CO(1-0), and C¹⁸O(1-0) spectral line observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array and provide measurements of the physical and kinematic properties for two of the brightest filaments. These filaments have widths (FWHMs) of ∼0.1 pc and are oriented nearly parallel to the Galactic plane, with angles from the Galactic plane of ∼2°. The filaments are elongated, with lower-limit aspect ratios of ∼5:1. For both filaments, we detect two distinct velocity components that are separated by about 15 km s⁻¹. In the C¹⁸O spectral line data, with ∼0.09 pc spatial resolution, we find that these velocity components have relatively narrow (∼1–2 km s⁻¹) FWHM line widths when compared to other sources toward the Galactic center. The properties of these filaments suggest that the gas in the Sgr E complex is being “stretched,” as it is rapidly accelerated by the gravitational field of the Galactic bar while falling toward the CMZ, a result that could provide insights into the extreme environment surrounding this region and the large-scale processes that fuel this environment.

 

Abstract We investigate the kinematic properties of Galactic H ii regions using radio recombination line (RRL) emission detected by the Australia Telescope Compact Array at 4–10 GHz and the Jansky Very Large Array at 8–10 GHz. Our H ii region sample consists of 425 independent observations of 374 nebulae that are relatively well isolated from other, potentially confusing sources and have a single RRL component with a high signal-to-noise ratio. We perform Gaussian fits to the RRL emission in position-position–velocity data cubes and discover velocity gradients in 178 (42%) of the nebulae with magnitudes between 5 and 200 m s − 1 arcsec − 1 . About 15% of the sources also have an RRL width spatial distribution that peaks toward the center of the nebula. The velocity gradient position angles appear to be random on the sky with no favored orientation with respect to the Galactic plane. We craft H ii region simulations that include bipolar outflows or solid body rotational motions to explain the observed velocity gradients. The simulations favor solid body rotation since, unlike the bipolar outflow kinematic models, they are able to produce both the large, >40 m s − 1 arcsec − 1 , velocity gradients and also the RRL width structure that we observe in some sources. The bipolar outflow model, however, cannot be ruled out as a possible explanation for the observed velocity gradients for many sources in our sample. We nevertheless suggest that most H ii region complexes are rotating and may have inherited angular momentum from their parent molecular clouds. 

Context. Ionized interstellar gas is an important component of the interstellar medium and its lifecycle. The recent evidence for a widely distributed highly ionized warm interstellar gas with a density intermediate between the warm ionized medium (WIM) and compact H  II regions suggests that there is a major gap in our understanding of the interstellar gas. Aims. Our goal is to investigate the properties of the dense WIM in the Milky Way using spectrally resolved SOFIA GREAT [N  II ] 205 μm fine-structure lines and Green Bank Telescope hydrogen radio recombination lines (RRL) data, supplemented by spectrally unresolved Herschel PACS [N  II ] 122μm data, and spectrally resolved 12 CO. Methods. We observed eight lines of sight (LOS) in the 20° < l < 30° region in the Galactic plane. We analyzed spectrally resolved lines of [N  II ] at 205 μm and RRL observations, along with the spectrally unresolved Herschel PACS 122 μm emission, using excitation and radiative transfer models to determine the physical parameters of the dense WIM. We derived the kinetic temperature, as well as the thermal and turbulent velocity dispersions from the [N  II ] and RRL linewidths. Results. The regions with [N  II ] 205 μm emission are characterized by electron densities, n ( e ) ~ 10−35 cm −3 , temperatures range from 3400 to 8500 K, and nitrogen column densities N(N + ) ~ 7 × 10 16 to 3 × 10 17 cm −2 . The ionized hydrogen column densities range from 6 × 10 20 to 1.7 × 10 21 cm −2 and the fractional nitrogen ion abundance x (N + ) ~ 1.1 × 10 −4 to 3.0 × 10 −4 , implying an enhanced nitrogen abundance at a distance ~4.3 kpc from the Galactic Center. The [N  II ] 205 μm emission lines coincide with CO emission, although often with an offset in velocity, which suggests that the dense warm ionized gas is located in, or near, star-forming regions, which themselves are associated with molecular gas. Conclusions. These dense ionized regions are found to contribute ≳50% of the observed [C  II ] intensity along these LOS. The kinetic temperatures we derive are too low to explain the presence of N + resulting from electron collisional ionization and/or proton charge transfer of atomic nitrogen. Rather, these regions most likely are ionized by extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation from nearby star-forming regions or as a result of EUV leakage through a clumpy and porous interstellar medium. 

There is relatively little known about Galactic star formation in the outer edges of the Milky Way, particularly in the Outer Scutum-Centaurus spiral arm (OSC). Lying about 15 kpc from the center of the Galaxy, the OSC was discovered in 2011 and is the most distant molecular spiral arm of the Milky Way. The OSC warps up to 4 degrees above the Galactic plane and as a result, has been excluded from the scope of many surveys of the Galactic plane, typically confined to a single degree above or below the plane. The goal of our study is to identify radio continuum from HII regions in the OSC in order to better understand the population of high-mass star formation regions in the outer Galaxy. We observed 12 HII Regions in the OSC using the Very Large Array at 10 GHz. Of our 12 targets, 7 are re-observations of undetected sources from Armentrout et al. (2017). The remaining 5 targets are sources without previously observed 10 GHz radio continuum data. We identify 10 GHz radio continuum associated with 7 of our OSC HII region targets for the first time. Assuming one dominant ionizing source per HII region, we assign spectral types from O9 to O5.5 for these sources, depending on their distance and continuum intensity. The remaining 5 nondetections represent lower-mass (B-type) star-forming regions below the sensitivity limit of our survey. These regions represent very high-mass star formation on the outer edge of the Galaxy, where densities and metallicities might be more similar to that of a much younger Milky Way or lower mass galaxies like the Magellanic Clouds.