Radio Recombination Lines in theMilky Way

Marina Berezina (Max Planck IfR)Kevin Hardegree-Ullman (Univ. of Toledo)

Yanina Metodieva (Univ. of Sofia)Amanda Kepley (NRAO, GBT)

Image Credits: www.otakupop.com, www.cv.nrao.edu

Based on HII Region Discovery Survey (HDRS)Bania, T.M. + (2010)

Radio Recombination Lines (RRLs)

• Used to measure distances to star forming regions in the Milky Way

• Combine with other observations to study dust and gas in young massive clusters

Radio Recombination Lines (RRLs)

• Electrons fall to lower levels within an atom and emit a photon

+

-

Data Collection/Reduction• Observed 7 RRLs in 10 HII regions within the

galactic plane• Combined scans, baselined, fit Gaussian,

obtained VLSR

VLSR

Galactic Longitude (°)

V LSR (

km s-1

)

Dame, Hartmann, & Thaddeus (2001)

Future Analysis

• Compare to infrared emission• Learn more about star formation in the Milky

Way