Engineering topics

Finelli, F.

Publications and source records attributed to Finelli, F..

At least 91 records · Page 5

DOE OSTI2016

Planck intermediate results: XXXI. Microwave survey of Galactic supernova remnants

The all-sky Planck survey in 9 frequency bands was used in this paper to search for emission from all 274 known Galactic supernova remnants. Of these, 16 were detected in at least two Planck frequencies. The radio-through-microwave spectral energy distributions were compiled to determine the mechanism for microwave emission. In only one case, IC 443, is there high-frequency emission clearly from dust associated with the supernova remnant. In all cases, the low-frequency emission is from synchrotron radiation. As predicted for a population of relativistic particles with energy distribution that extends continuously to high energies, a single power law is evident for many sources, including the Crab and PKS 1209-51/52. A decrease in flux density relative to the extrapolation of radio emission is evident in several sources. Their spectral energy distributions can be approximated as broken power laws, S ν ∝ ν -α , with the spectral index, α, increasing by 0.5–1 above a break frequency in the range 10–60 GHz. Finally, the break could be due to synchrotron losses.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2016

Planck intermediate results: XXX. The angular power spectrum of polarized dust emission at intermediate and high Galactic latitudes

The polarized thermal emission from diffuse Galactic dust is the main foreground present in measurements of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) at frequencies above 100 GHz. In this study we exploit the uniqueness of the Planck HFI polarization data from 100 to 353 GHz to measure the polarized dust angular power spectra C ℓ EE and C ℓ BB over the multipole range 40 <ℓ< 600 well away from the Galactic plane. These measurements will bring new insights into interstellar dust physics and allow a precise determination of the level of contamination for CMB polarization experiments. Despite the non-Gaussian and anisotropic nature of Galactic dust, we show that general statistical properties of the emission can be characterized accurately over large fractions of the sky using angular power spectra. The polarization power spectra of the dust are well described by power laws in multipole, C ℓ ∝ ℓ α , with exponents α EE,BB = -2.42 ± 0.02. The amplitudes of the polarization power spectra vary with the average brightness in a way similar to the intensity power spectra. The frequency dependence of the dust polarization spectra is consistent with modified blackbody emission with β d = 1.59 and T d = 19.6 K down to the lowest Planck HFI frequencies. We find a systematic difference between the amplitudes of the Galactic B- and E-modes, C ℓ BB /C ℓ EE = 0.5. We verify that these general properties are preserved towards high Galactic latitudes with low dust column densities. We show that even in the faintest dust-emitting regions there are no “clean” windows in the sky where primordial CMB B-mode polarization measurements could be made without subtraction of foreground emission. Finally, we investigate the level of dust polarization in the specific field recently targeted by the BICEP2 experiment. Extrapolation of the Planck 353 GHz data to 150 GHz gives a dust power D ℓ BB ≡ ℓ(ℓ+1)C ℓ BB /(2π) of 1.32 × 10 -2 μK CMB 2 over the multipole range of the primordial recombination bump (40 <ℓ< 120); the statistical uncertainty is ± 0.29 × 10 -2 μK CMB 2 and there is an additional uncertainty (+0.28, -0.24) × 10 -2 μK CMB 2 from the extrapolation. Finally, this level is the same magnitude as reported by BICEP2 over this ℓ range, which highlights the need for assessment of the polarized dust signal even in the cleanest windows of the sky.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2016

Planck intermediate results: XXXII. The relative orientation between the magnetic field and structures traced by interstellar dust

The role of the magnetic field in the formation of the filamentary structures observed in the interstellar medium (ISM) is a debated topic owing to the paucity of relevant observations needed to test existing models. The Planck all-sky maps of linearly polarized emission from dust at 353 GHz provide the required combination of imaging and statistics to study the correlation between the structures of the Galactic magnetic field and of interstellar matter over the whole sky, both in the diffuse ISM and in molecular clouds. The data reveal that structures, or ridges, in the intensity map have counterparts in the Stokes Q and/or U maps. In this paper, we focus our study on structures at intermediate and high Galactic latitudes, which cover two orders of magnitude in column density, from 10 20 to 10 22 cm -2 . We measure the magnetic field orientation on the plane ofthe sky from the polarization data, and present an algorithm to estimate the orientation of the ridges from the dust intensity map. We use analytical models to account for projection effects. Comparing polarization angles on and off the structures, we estimate the mean ratio between the strengths of the turbulent and mean components of the magnetic field to be between 0.6 and 1.0, with a preferred value of 0.8. We find that the ridges are usually aligned with the magnetic field measured on the structures. This statistical trend becomes more striking for increasing polarization fraction and decreasing column density. There is no alignment for the highest column density ridges. We interpret the increase in alignment with polarization fraction as a consequence of projection effects. We present maps to show that the decrease in alignment for high column density is not due to a loss of correlation between the distribution of matter and the geometry of the magnetic field. In molecular complexes, we also observe structures perpendicular to the magnetic field, which, statistically, cannot be accounted for by projection effects. This first statistical study of the relative orientation between the matter structures and the magnetic field in the ISM points out that, at the angular scales probed by Planck, the field geometry projected on the plane of the sky is correlated with the distribution of matter. In the diffuse ISM, the structures of matter are usually aligned with the magnetic field, while perpendicular structures appear in molecular clouds. Finally, we discuss our results in the context of models and MHD simulations, which attempt to describe the respective roles of turbulence, magnetic field, and self-gravity in the formation of structures in the magnetized ISM.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2016

Planck intermediate results: XXXIII. Signature of the magnetic field geometry of interstellar filaments in dust polarization maps

Planck observations at 353 GHz provide the first fully sampled maps of the polarized dust emission towards interstellar filaments and their backgrounds (i.e., the emission observed in the surroundings of the filaments). The data allow us to determine the intrinsic polarization properties of the filaments and therefore to provide insight into the structure of their magnetic field (B). In this paper, we present the polarization maps of three nearby (several parsecs long) star-forming filaments of moderate column density (N H about 10 22 cm -2 ): Musca, B211, and L1506. These three filaments are detected above the background in dust total and polarized emission. We use the spatial information to separate Stokes I, Q, and U of the filaments from those of their backgrounds, an essential step in measuring the intrinsic polarization fraction (p) and angle (ψ) of each emission component. We find that the polarization angles in the three filaments (ψ fil ) are coherent along their lengths and not the same as in their backgrounds (ψ bg ). The differences between ψ fil and ψ bg are 12° and 54° for Musca and L1506, respectively, and only 6° in the case of B211. These differences forMusca and L1506 are larger than the dispersions of ψ, both along the filaments and in their backgrounds. The observed changes of ψ are direct evidence of variations of the orientation of the plane of the sky (POS) projection of the magnetic field. As in previous studies, we find a decrease of several per cent in p with N H from the backgrounds to the crest of the filaments. We show that the bulk of the drop in p within the filaments cannot be explained by random fluctuations of the orientation of the magnetic field because they are too small (σ ψ < 10°). We recognize the degeneracy between the dust alignment efficiency (by, e.g., radiative torques) and the structure of the B-field in causing variations in p, but we argue that the decrease in p from the backgrounds to the filaments results in part from depolarization associated with the 3D structure of the B-field: both its orientation in the POS and with respect to the POS. We do not resolve the inner structure of the filaments, but at the smallest scales accessible with Planck (~0.2 pc), the observed changes of ψ and p hold information on the magnetic field structure within filaments. Finally, they show that both the mean field and its fluctuations in the filaments are different from those of their backgrounds, which points to a coupling between the matter and the B-field in the filament formation process.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2016

Planck intermediate results: XXXIV. The magnetic field structure in the Rosette Nebula

Planck has mapped the polarized dust emission over the whole sky, making it possible to trace the Galactic magnetic field structure that pervades the interstellar medium (ISM). In this paper, we combine polarization data from Planck with rotation measure (RM) observations towards a massive star-forming region, the Rosette Nebula in the Monoceros molecular cloud, to study its magnetic field structure and the impact of an expanding H ii region on the morphology of the field. We derive an analytical solution for the magnetic field, assumed to evolve from an initially uniform configuration following the expansion of ionized gas and the formation of a shell of swept-up ISM. From the RM data we estimate a mean value of the line-of-sight component of the magnetic field of about 3 μG (towards the observer) in the Rosette Nebula, for a uniform electron density of about 12 cm -3 . The dust shell that surrounds the Rosette H ii region is clearly observed in the Planck intensity map at 353 GHz, with a polarization signal significantly different from that of the local background when considered asa whole. The Planck observations constrain the plane-of-the-sky orientation of the magnetic field in the Rosette’s parent molecular cloud to be mostly aligned with the large-scale field along the Galactic plane. The Planck data are compared with the analytical model, which predicts the mean polarization properties of a spherical and uniform dust shell for a given orientation of the field. This comparison leads to an upper limit of about 45° on the angle between the line of sight and the magnetic field in the Rosette complex, for an assumed intrinsic dust polarization fraction of 4%. This field direction can reproduce the RM values detected in the ionized region if the magnetic field strength in the Monoceros molecular cloud is in the range 6.5–9 μG. Finally, the present analytical model is able to reproduce the RM distribution across the ionized nebula, as well as the mean dust polarization properties of the swept-up shell, and can be directly applied to other similar objects.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2016

Planck intermediate results: XXXV. Probing the role of the magnetic field in the formation of structure in molecular clouds

Within ten nearby (d < 450 pc) Gould belt molecular clouds we evaluate in this paper statistically the relative orientation between the magnetic field projected on the plane of sky, inferred from the polarized thermal emission of Galactic dust observed by Planck at 353 GHz, and the gas column density structures, quantified by the gradient of the column density, N H . The selected regions, covering several degrees in size, are analysed at an effective angular resolution of 10' FWHM, thus sampling physical scales from 0.4 to 40 pc in the nearest cloud. The column densities in the selected regions range from N H ≈ 10 21 to10 23 cm -2 , and hence they correspond to the bulk of the molecular clouds. The relative orientation is evaluated pixel by pixel and analysed in bins of column density using the novel statistical tool called “histogram of relative orientations”. Throughout this study, we assume that the polarized emission observed by Planck at 353 GHz is representative of the projected morphology of the magnetic field in each region, i.e., we assume a constant dust grain alignment efficiency, independent of the local environment. Within most clouds we find that the relative orientation changes progressively with increasing N H , from mostly parallel or having no preferred orientation to mostly perpendicular. In simulations of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in molecular clouds this trend in relative orientation is a signature of Alfvénic or sub-Alfvénic turbulence, implying that the magnetic field is significant for the gas dynamics at the scales probed by Planck. Finally, we compare the deduced magnetic field strength with estimates we obtain from other methods and discuss the implications of the Planck observations for the general picture of molecular cloud formation and evolution.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2016

Planck intermediate results: XXXVII. Evidence of unbound gas from the kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect

By looking at the kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect (kSZ) in Planck nominal mission data, we present in this paper a significant detection of baryons participating in large-scale bulk flows around central galaxies (CGs) at redshift z ≈ 0.1. We estimate the pairwise momentum of the kSZ temperature fluctuations at the positions of the Central Galaxy Catalogue (CGC) samples extracted from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-DR7) data. For the foreground-cleaned SEVEM, SMICA, NILC, and COMMANDER maps, we find 1.8–2.5σ detections of the kSZ signal, which are consistent with the kSZ evidence found in individualPlanck raw frequency maps, although lower than found in the WMAP-9yr W-band (3.3σ). We further reconstruct the peculiar velocity field from the CG density field, and compute for the first time the cross-correlation function between kSZ temperature fluctuations and estimates of CG radial peculiar velocities. This correlation function yields a 3.0–3.7σ detection of the peculiar motion of extended gas on Mpc scales in flows correlated up to distances of 80–100 h -1 Mpc. Both the pairwise momentum estimates and the kSZ temperature-velocity field correlation find evidence for kSZ signatures out to apertures of 8 arcmin and beyond, corresponding to a physical radius of >1 Mpc, more than twice the mean virial radius of halos. This is consistent with the predictions from hydrodynamical simulations that most of the baryons are outside the virialized halos. We fit a simple model, in which the temperature-velocity cross-correlation is proportional to the signal seen in a semi-analytic model built upon N-body simulations, and interpret the proportionality constant as an effective optical depth to Thomson scattering. Finally, we find τ T = (1.4 ± 0.5) × 10 -4 ; the simplest interpretation of this measurement is that much of the gas is in a diffuse phase, which contributes little signal to X-ray or thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich observations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2016

Planck intermediate results: XXXVI. Optical identification and redshifts of Planck SZ sources with telescopes at the Canary Islands observatories

In this paper, we present the results of approximately three years of observations of Planck Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) sources with telescopes at the Canary Islands observatories as part of the general optical follow-up programme undertaken by the Planck Collaboration. In total, 78 SZ sources are discussed. Deep-imaging observations were obtained for most of these sources; spectroscopic observations in either in long-slit or multi-object modes were obtained for many. We effectively used 37.5 clear nights. We found optical counterparts for 73 of the 78 candidates. This sample includes 53 spectroscopic redshift determinations, 20 of them obtained with a multi-object spectroscopic mode. Finally, the sample contains new redshifts for 27 Planck clusters that were not included in the first Planck SZ source catalogue (PSZ1).

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2016

Planck intermediate results: XXXVIII. E - and B -modes of dust polarization from the magnetized filamentary structure of the interstellar medium

The quest for a B-mode imprint from primordial gravity waves on the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) requires the characterization of foreground polarization from Galactic dust. In this paper, we present a statistical study of the filamentary structure of the 353 GHz Planck Stokes maps at high Galactic latitude, relevant to the study of dust emission as a polarized foreground to the CMB. We filter the intensity and polarization maps to isolate filaments in the range of angular scales where the power asymmetry between E-modes and B-modes is observed. Using the Smoothed Hessian Major Axis Filament Finder (SMAFF), we identify 259 filaments at high Galactic latitude, with lengths larger or equal to 2° (corresponding to 3.5 pc in length for a typical distance of 100 pc). Thesefilaments show a preferred orientation parallel to the magnetic field projected onto the plane of the sky, derived from their polarization angles. We present mean maps of the filaments in Stokes I, Q, U, E, and B, computed by stacking individual images rotated to align the orientations of the filaments. Combining the stacked images and the histogram of relative orientations, we estimate the mean polarization fraction of the filaments to be 11%. Furthermore, we show that the correlation between the filaments and the magnetic field orientations may account for the E and B asymmetry and the C ℓ TE /C ℓ EE ratio, reported in the power spectra analysis of the Planck353 GHz polarization maps. Finally, future models of the dust foreground for CMB polarization studies will need to take into account the observed correlation between the dust polarization and the structure of interstellar matter.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2015

Planck intermediate results: XXV. The Andromeda galaxy as seen by Planck

The Andromeda galaxy (M 31) is one of a few galaxies that has sufficient angular size on the sky to be resolved by the Planck satellite. Planck has detected M 31 in all of its frequency bands, and has mapped out the dust emission with the High Frequency Instrument, clearly resolving multiple spiralarms and sub-features. In this paper, we examine the morphology of this long-wavelength dust emission as seen by Planck, including a study of its outermost spiral arms, and investigate the dust heating mechanism across M 31. We find that dust dominating the longer wavelength emission (≳0.3 mm) is heated by the diffuse stellar population (as traced by 3.6 μm emission), with the dust dominating the shorter wavelength emission heated by a mix of the old stellar population and star-forming regions (as traced by 24 μm emission). We also fit spectral energy distributions for individual 5' pixels and quantify the dust properties across the galaxy, taking into account these different heating mechanisms, finding that there is a linear decrease in temperature with galactocentric distance for dust heated by the old stellar population, as would be expected, with temperatures ranging from around 22 K in the nucleus to 14 K outside of the 10 kpc ring. Finally, we measure the integrated spectrum of the whole galaxy, which we find to be well-fitted with a global dust temperature of (18.2 ± 1.0) K with a spectral index of 1.62 ± 0.11 (assuming a single modified blackbody), and a significant amount of free-free emission at intermediate frequencies of 20–60 GHz, which corresponds to a star formation rate of around 0.12 M ⊙ yr -1 . Finally, we find a 2.3σ detection of the presence of spinning dust emission, with a 30 GHz amplitude of 0.7 ± 0.3 Jy, which is in line with expectations from our Galaxy.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2015

Planck intermediate results. XXVI. Optical identification and redshifts of Planck clusters with the RTT150 telescope

In this paper, we present the results of approximately three years of observations of Planck Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) sources with the Russian-Turkish 1.5 m telescope (RTT150), as a part of the optical follow-up programme undertaken by the Planck collaboration. During this time period approximately 20% of all dark and grey clear time available at the telescope was devoted to observations of Planck objects. Some observations of distant clusters were also done at the 6 m Bolshoi Telescope Alt-azimutalnyi (BTA) of the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In total, deep, direct images of more than one hundred fields were obtained in multiple filters. We identified 47 previously unknown galaxy clusters, 41 of which are included in the Planck catalogue of SZ sources. The redshifts of 65 Planck clusters were measured spectroscopically and 14 more were measured photometrically. We discuss the details of cluster optical identifications and redshift measurements. Finally, we also present new spectroscopic redshifts for 39 Planck clusters that were not included in the Planck SZ source catalogue and are published here for the first time.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2015

Planck intermediate results: XXVIII. Interstellar gas and dust in the Chamaeleon clouds as seen by Fermi LAT and Planck $\star$

The nearby Chamaeleon clouds have been observed in γ rays by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and in thermal dust emission by Planck and IRAS. Cosmic rays and large dust grains, if smoothly mixed with gas, can jointly serve with the H i and 12 CO radio data to (i) map the hydrogen column densities, N H , in the different gas phases, in particular at the dark neutral medium (DNM) transition between the H i -bright and CO-bright media; (ii) constrain the CO-to-H 2 conversion factor, X CO ; and (iii) probe the dust properties per gas nucleon in each phase and map their spatial variations across the clouds. We have separated clouds at local, intermediate, and Galactic velocities in H i and 12 CO line emission to model in parallel the γ-ray intensity recorded between 0.4 and 100 GeV; the dust optical depth at 353 GHz, τ 353 ; the thermal radiance of the large grains; and an estimate of the dust extinction, A VQ , empirically corrected for the starlight intensity. Furthermore, the dust and γ-ray models have been coupled to account for the DNM gas. The consistent γ-ray emissivity spectra recorded in the different phases confirm that the GeV–TeV cosmic rays probed by the LAT uniformly permeate all gas phases up to the 12 CO cores. The dust and cosmic rays both reveal large amounts of DNM gas, with comparable spatial distributions and twice as much mass as in the CO-bright clouds. We give constraints on the H i -DNM-CO transitions for five separate clouds. CO-dark H 2 dominates the molecular columns up to AV ≃ 0.9 and its mass often exceeds the one-third of the molecular mass expected by theory. The corrected A VQ extinction largely provides the best fit to the total gas traced by the γ rays. Nevertheless, we find evidence for a marked rise in A VQ /N H with increasing N H and molecular fraction, and with decreasing dust temperature. The rise in τ 353 /NH is even steeper. Here, we observe variations of lesser amplitude and orderliness for the specific power of the grains, except for a coherent decline by half in the CO cores. This combined information suggests grain evolution. We also provide average values for the dust properties per gas nucleon in the different phases. The γ rays and dust radiance yield consistent X CO estimates near 0.7 × 10 20 cm -2 K -1 km -1 s. The A VQ and τ 353 tracers yield biased values because of the large rise in grain opacity in the CO clouds. These results clarify a recurrent disparity in the γ-ray versus dust calibration of X CO , but they confirm the factor of 2 difference found between the X CO estimates in nearby clouds and in the neighbouring spiral arms.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2015

Planck 2013 results. XXXII. The updated Planck catalogue of Sunyaev-Zeldovich sources

We report on the all-sky Planck catalogue of 1227 clusters and cluster candidates (PSZ1) published in March 2013, derived from detections of the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect using the first 15.5 months of Planck satellite observations. As an addendum, we deliver an updated version of the PSZ1 catalogue, reporting the further confirmation of 86 Planck -discovered clusters. In total, the PSZ1 now contains 947 confirmed clusters, of which 214 were confirmed as newly discovered clusters through follow-up observations undertaken by the Planck Collaboration. The updated PSZ1 contains redshifts for 913 systems, of which 736 (~ 80.6%) are spectroscopic, and associated mass estimates derived from the Yzmass proxy. We also provide a new SZ quality flag for the remaining 280 candidates. This flag was derived from a novel artificial neural-network classification of the SZ signal. Due to this assessment, the purity of the updated PSZ1 catalogue is estimated to be 94%. In this release, we provide the full updated catalogue and an additional readme file with further information on the Planck SZ detections.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2015

CMB and BAO constraints for an induced gravity dark energy model with a quartic potential

We study the predictions for structure formation in an induced gravity dark energy model with a quartic potential. By developing a dedicated Einstein-Boltzmann code, we study self-consistently the dynamics of homogeneous cosmology and of linear perturbations without using any parametrization. By evolving linear perturbations with initial conditions in the radiation era, we accurately recover the quasi-static analytic approximation in the matter dominated era. We use PLANCK 2013 data and a compilation of baryonic acoustic oscillation (BAO) data to constrain the coupling γ to the Ricci curvature and the other cosmological parameters. By connecting the gravitational constant in the Einstein equation to the one measured in a Cavendish-like experiment, we find γ < 0.0012 at 95% CL with PLANCK 2013 and BAO data. This is the tightest cosmological constraint on γ and on the corresponding derived post-Newtonian parameters. Because of a degeneracy between γ and the Hubble constant H{sub 0}, we show how larger values for γ are allowed, but not preferred at a significant statistical level, when local measurements of H{sub 0} are combined in the analysis with PLANCK 2013 data.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2015

Planck intermediate results: XXIV. Constraints on variations in fundamental constants*

Any variation in the fundamental physical constants, more particularly in the fine structure constant, α, or in the mass of the electron, me, affects the recombination history of the Universe and cause an imprint on the cosmic microwave background angular power spectra. We demonstrate that the Planck data allow one to improve the constraint on the time variation of the fine structure constant at redshift z &sim; 10 3 by about a factor of 5 compared to WMAP data, as well as to break the degeneracy with the Hubble constant, H 0 . In addition to α, we can set a constraint on the variation in the mass of the electron, me, and in the simultaneous variation of the two constants. We study in detail the degeneracies between fundamental constants and the cosmological parameters, in order to compare the limits obtained from Planck and WMAP and to determine the constraining power gained by including other cosmological probes. We conclude that independent time variations of the fine structure constant and of the mass of the electron are constrained by Planck to Δα/α = (3.6 ± 3.7) × 10 -3 and Δme/me = (4 ± 11) × 10 -3 at the 68% confidence level. We also investigate the possibility of a spatial variation of the fine structure constant. The relative amplitude of a dipolar spatial variation in α (corresponding to a gradient across our Hubble volume) is constrained to be δα/α = (-2.4 ± 3.7) × 10 -2 .

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2015

Planck intermediate results: XXIII. Galactic plane emission components derived from Planck with ancillary data*

Planck data when combined with ancillary data provide a unique opportunity to separate the diffuse emission components of the inner Galaxy. The reason for this paper is to elucidate the morphology of the various emission components in the strong star-formation region lying inside the solar radius and to clarify the relationship between the various components. The region of the Galactic plane covered is l = 300° → 0° → 60° where star-formation is highest and the emission is strong enough to make significant component separation. The latitude widths in this longitude range lie between 1 and 2, which correspond to FWHM z-widths of 100-200 pc at a typical distance of 6 kpc. The four emission components studied here are synchrotron, free-free, anomalous microwave emission (AME), and thermal (vibrational) dust emission. These components are identified by constructing spectral energy distributions (SEDs) at positions along the Galactic plane using the wide frequency coverage of Planck (28.4-857GHz) in combination with low-frequency radio data at 0.408-2.3 GHz plus WMAP data at 23-94 GHz, along with far-infrared (FIR) data from COBE-DIRBE and IRAS. The free-free component is determined from radio recombination line (RRL) data. AME is found to be comparable in brightness to the free-free emission on the Galactic plane in the frequency range 20-40 GHz with a width in latitude similar to that of the thermal dust; it comprises 45 ± 1% of the total 28.4 GHz emission in the longitude range l = 300° → 0° → 60°. The free-free component is the narrowest, reflecting the fact that it is produced by current star-formation as traced by the narrow distribution of OB stars. It is the dominant emission on the plane between 60 and 100 GHz. RRLs from this ionized gas are used to assess its distance, leading to a free-free z-width of FWHM ≈ 100 pc. The narrow synchrotron component has a low-frequency brightness spectral index β synch ≈ -2.7 that is similar to the broad synchrotron component indicating that they are both populated by the cosmic ray electrons of the same spectral index. The width of this narrow synchrotron component is significantly larger than that of the other three components, suggesting that it is generated in an assembly of older supernova remnants that have expanded to sizes of order 150 pc in 3 × 10 5 yr; pulsars of a similar age have a similar spread in latitude. The thermal dust is identified in the SEDs with average parameters of T dust = 20.4 ± 0.4 K, β FIR = 1.94 ± 0.03 (> 353 GHz), and β mm = 1.67 ± 0.02 (< 353 GHz). The latitude distributions of gamma-rays, CO, and the emission in high-frequency Planck bands have similar widths, showing that they are all indicators of the total gaseous matter on the plane in the inner Galaxy.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2015

Planck intermediate results. XIX. An overview of the polarized thermal emission from Galactic dust

This paper presents an overview of the polarized sky as seen by Planck HFI at 353 GHz, which is the most sensitive Planck channel for dust polarization. We construct and analyse maps of dust polarization fraction and polarization angle at 1° resolution, taking into account noise bias and possible systematic effects. The sensitivity of the Planck HFI polarization measurements allows for the first time a mapping of Galactic dust polarized emission on large scales, including low column density regions. We find that the maximum observed dust polarization fraction is high ( p max = 19.8%), in particular in some regions of moderate hydrogen column density ( N H < 2 × 10 21 cm -2 ). The polarization fraction displays a large scatter at N H below a few 10 21 cm -2 . There is a general decrease in the dust polarization fraction with increasing column density above N H ≃ 1 × 10 21 cm -2 and in particular a sharp drop above N H ≃ 1.5 × 10 22 cm -2 . We characterize the spatial structure of the polarization angle using the angle dispersion function. We find that the polarization angle is ordered over extended areas of several square degrees, separated by filamentary structures of high angle dispersion function. These appear as interfaces where the sky projection of the magnetic field changes abruptly without variations in the column density. The polarization fraction is found to be anti-correlated with the dispersion of polarization angles. These results suggest that, at the resolution of 1°, depolarization is due mainly to fluctuations in the magnetic field orientation along the line of sight, rather than to the loss of grain alignment in shielded regions. We also compare the polarization of thermal dust emission with that of synchrotron measured with Planck , low-frequency radio data, and Faraday rotation measurements toward extragalactic sources. These components bear resemblance along the Galactic plane and in some regions such as the Fan and North Polar Spur regions. The poor match observed in other regions shows, however, that dust, cosmic-ray electrons, and thermal electrons generally sample different parts of the line of sight.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2015

Planck intermediate results. XXI. Comparison of polarized thermal emission from Galactic dust at 353 GHz with interstellar polarization in the visible

The Planck survey provides unprecedented full-sky coverage of the submillimetre polarized emission from Galactic dust. In addition to the information on the direction of the Galactic magnetic field, this also brings new constraints on the properties of dust. The dust grains that emit the radiation seen by Planck in the submillimetre also extinguish and polarize starlight in the visible. Comparison of the polarization of the emission and of the interstellar polarization on selected lines of sight probed by stars provides unique new diagnostics of the emission and light scattering properties of dust, and therefore of the important dust model parameters, composition, size, and shape. Using ancillary catalogues of interstellar polarization and extinction of starlight, we obtain the degree of polarization, p V , and the optical depth in the V band to the star, τ V . Toward these stars we measure the submillimetre polarized intensity, P S , and total intensity, I S , in the Planck 353 GHz channel. We compare the column density measure in the visible, E ( B - V ), with that inferred from the Planck product map of the submillimetre dust optical depth and compare the polarization direction (position angle) in the visible with that in the submillimetre. For those lines of sight through the diffuse interstellar medium with comparable values of the estimated column density and polarization directions close to orthogonal, we correlate properties in the submillimetre and visible to find two ratios, R S/V = ( P S /I S )/( p V /τ V ) and R P/p = P S / p V , the latter focusing directly on the polarization properties of the aligned grain population alone. We find R S/V = 4.2, with statistical and systematic uncertainties 0.2 and 0.3, respectively, and R P/p = 5.4 MJy sr -1 , with uncertainties 0.2 and 0.3 MJy sr -1 , respectively. Our estimate of R S/V is compatible with predictions based on a range of polarizing dust models that have been developed for the diffuse interstellar medium. This estimate provides new empirical validation of many of the common underlying assumptions of the models, but is not yet very discriminating among them. However, our estimate of R P/p is not compatible with predictions, which are too low by a factor of about 2.5. This more discriminating diagnostic, R P/p , indicates that changes to the optical properties in the models of the aligned grain population are required. These new diagnostics, together with the spectral dependence in the submillimetre from Planck , will be important for constraining and understanding the full complexity of the grain models, and for interpreting the Planck thermal dust polarization and refinement of the separation of this contamination of the cosmic microwave background.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗