How long can tiny HI clouds survive?

被引:13
|
作者
Nagashima, Masahiro [1 ]
Inutsuka, Shu-Ichiro
Koyama, Hiroshi
机构
[1] Nagasaki Univ, Fac Educ, Nagasaki 8528521, Japan
[2] Kyoto Univ, Dept Phys, Kyoto 6068502, Japan
[3] Kobe Univ, Dept Earth & Planetary Sci, Kobe, Hyogo 6578501, Japan
来源
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL | 2006年 / 652卷 / 01期
基金
日本学术振兴会;
关键词
hydrodynamics; ISM : clouds; ISM : kinematics and dynamics;
D O I
10.1086/509805
中图分类号
P1 [天文学];
学科分类号
0704 ;
摘要
We estimate the evaporation timescale for spherical H (I) clouds consisting of the cold neutral medium surrounded by the warm neutral medium. We focus on clouds smaller than 1 pc, which corresponds to tiny H (I) clouds recently discovered by Braun & Kanekar and Stanimirovic & Heiles. By performing one-dimensional, spherically symmetric numerical simulations of the two-phase interstellar medium (ISM), we derive the timescales as a function of the cloud size and of pressure of the ambient warm medium. We find that the evaporation timescale of the clouds of 0.01 pc is about 1 Myr with standard ISM pressure, p/k(B) similar to 10(3.5) K cm(-3), and for clouds larger than about 0.1 pc it depends strongly on the pressure. In high-pressure cases, there exists a critical radius for clouds growing as a function of pressure, but the minimum critical size is similar to 0.03 pc for a standard environment. If tiny H (I) clouds exist ubiquitously, our analysis suggests two implications: tiny H (I) clouds are formed continuously with the timescale of 1 Myr, or the ambient pressure around the clouds is much higher than the standard ISM pressure. The cloud-size dependence of the timescale is well explained by an analytic approximate formula derived by Nagashima, Koyama, & Inutsuka. We also compare it with the evaporation rate given by McKee & Cowie.
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页码:L41 / L44
页数:4
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