Abundance variations in high-velocity interstellar gas

Abstract

Based on line-of-sight models and profile fitting, abundance variations of Ca, Si, Fe, and Na in high-velocity interstellar clouds toward Mu Columbae, HD 28497, and HD 50896 are discussed. The correlation of larger ratios N(Ca II)/N(Na I) with increasing radial velocity in clouds with absolute values of radial velocity from 20 to 100 km/s, is shown to quite likely be due to abundance variations in Ca rather than an ionization effect. Copernicus UV data show that the ratios N(Fe II)/N(S II) and N(Si II)/N(S II) have the same velocity correlation as Ca II, and the ambiguity concerning the relative abundance of Na I to hydrogen is removed. Theories of grain disruption are discussed as they relate to the observed Ca, Si, and Fe enhancements and their correlation with cloud velocity.