A theory of the interstellar medium - Three components regulated by supernova explosions in an inhomogeneous substrate
C. F. McKee, J. P. Ostriker;
ApJ, 1977, 218, 148
ABSTRACT:Supernova explosions in a cloudy interstellar medium produce a three-component medium in which a large fraction of the volume is
filled with hot, tenuous gas.
In the disk of the galaxy the evolution of
supernova remnants is altered by evaporation of cool clouds embedded in the hot
medium.
Radiative losses are enhanced by the resulting increase in density and by
radiation from the conductive interfaces between clouds and hot gas.
Mass
balance (cloud evaporation rate = dense shell formation rate) and energy
balance (supernova shock input = radiation loss) determine the density and
temperature of the hot medium.
A self-consistent model of the interstellar medium
developed herein accounts for the observed pressure of interstellar clouds, the
galactic soft X-ray background, the O VI absorption line observations, the
ionization and heating of much of the interstellar medium, and the motions of the
clouds.
KEYWORDS: interstellar matter, nebulae, supernova remnants, x ray sources, absorption spectra, adiabatic conditions, astronomical models, background radiation, clouds, evaporation, high temperature gases, rarefied gases
PERSOKEY:general ism, xrays, h+, h_i, ,
CODE: mckee77