Interferometric observations of the small-scale structure of Galactic neutral hydrogen

Extract

The small-scale structure of galactic neutral hydrogen may be statistically described by the spatial power spectrum of the 21-cm line. This latter may be readily observed by interferometer arrays since it is the squared modulus of the visibility function. We have observed the , region with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (Crovisier and Dickey, 1983). Brightness fluctuations of the 21-cm line were detected in this region on scales as small as 1.7 arcmin (corresponding to less than 5 pc). The Westerbork observations, combined with single-dish observations made at Nançay and Arecibo, allow determination of the spatial power spectrum over a dynamic range of about 10⁶ in intensity. The spectrum follows roughly a power law with indices ~ −3 to −2. An interpretation in terms of the turbulence spectrum is proposed by Dickey (1985).