Highly-Ionized Gas in the Galactic Halo: A FUSE Survey of O VI Absorption toward 22 Halo Stars

J. Zsargo, K. R. Sembach, J. C. Howk, B. D. Savage

Published 2002-12-09Version 1

Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer spectra of 22 Galactic halo stars are studied to determine the amount of O VI in the Galactic halo between ~0.3 and \~10 kpc from the Galactic mid-plane. Strong O VI 1031.93 A absorption was detected toward 21 stars, and a reliable 3 sigma upper limit was obtained toward HD 97991. The weaker member of the O VI doublet at 1037.62 A could be studied toward only six stars. The observed columns are reasonably consistent with a patchy exponential O VI distribution with a mid-plane density of 1.7x10^(-8) cm^(-3) and scale height between 2.3 and 4 kpc. We do not see clear signs of strong high-velocity components in O VI absorption along the Galactic sight lines, which indicates the general absence of high velocity O VI within 2-5 kpc of the Galactic mid-plane. The correlation between the H I and O VI intermediate velocity absorption is also poor. The O VI velocity dispersions are much larger than the value of ~18 km/s expected from thermal broadening for gas at T~300,000 K, the temperature at which O VI is expected to reach its peak abundance in collisional ionization equilibrium. Turbulence, inflow, and outflow must have an effect on the shape of the O VI profiles. Kinematical comparisons of O VI with Ar I suggest the presence of two different types of O VI-bearing environments toward the Galactic sight lines. Comparison of O VI with other highly-ionized species suggests that the high ions are produced primarily by cooling hot gas in the Galactic fountain flow, and that turbulent mixing also has a significant contribution. The role of turbulent mixing is most important toward sight lines that sample supernova remnants like Loop I and IV.