Pseudo-three-dimensional maps of the diffuse interstellar band at 862 nm

Kos, J.; Zwitter, T.; Wyse, R.; Bienayme, O.; Binney, J.; Bland-Hawthorn, J.; Freeman, Kenneth; Gibson, B. K.; Gilmore, G.; Grebel, Eva K.; Helmi, A.; Kordopatis, G.; Munari, U.; Navarro, J.; Parker, Q.; Reid, Warren A.; Seabroke, G.; Sharma, S.; Siebert, A.; Siviero, A.; Steinmetz, M.; Watson, Fred G.; Williams, M. E. K.; Williams, Mary E.K.; Gibson, Brad K.; Bienaymé, Olivier; Binney, James; Bland-Hawthorn, Joss; Freeman, Ken; Gilmore, Gerry; Grebel, Eva; Helmi, Amina; Kordopatis, Georges; Kos, Janez; Munari, Ulisse; Navarro, Julio; Parker, Quentin; Reid, Warren; Seabroke, George; Sharma, Sanjib; Siebert, Arnaud; Siviero, Alessandro; Steinmetz, Matthias; Watson, Fred; Williams, Mary; Wyse, Rosemary; Zwitter, Tomaž

Abstract

The diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) are absorption lines observed in visual and near-infrared spectra of stars. Understanding their origin in the interstellar medium is one of the oldest problems in astronomical spectroscopy, as DIBs have been known since 1922. In a completely new approach to understanding DIBs, we combined information from nearly 500,000 stellar spectra obtained by the massive spectroscopic survey RAVE (Radial Velocity Experiment) to produce the first pseudo–three-dimensional map of the strength of the DIB at 8620 angstroms covering the nearest 3 kiloparsecs from the Sun, and show that it follows our independently constructed spatial distribution of extinction by interstellar dust along the Galactic plane. Despite having a similar distribution in the Galactic plane, the DIB 8620 carrier has a significantly larger vertical scale height than the dust. Even if one DIB may not represent the general DIB population, our observations outline the future direction of DIB research.

Citation

Kos, J., Zwitter, T., Wyse, R., Bienayme, O., Binney, J., Bland-Hawthorn, J., …Zwitter, T. (2014). Pseudo-three-dimensional maps of the diffuse interstellar band at 862 nm. Science, 345(6198), 791-795. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1253171

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 19, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Aug 14, 2014
• Publication Date: Aug 15, 2014
• Deposit Date: Apr 13, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 13, 2016
• Journal: Science
• Print ISSN: 0036-8075
• Electronic ISSN: 1095-9203
• Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 345
• Issue: 6198
• Pages: 791-795
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1253171
• Keywords: Diffuse interstellar bands
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/435787
• Publisher URL: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/345/6198/791.long
• Additional Information: This is the author’s version of the work. It is posted here by permission of the AAAS for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Science on v.345 15 Aug 2014, DOI: 10.1126/science.1253171.