On stable hydrostatic equilibrium configurations of the galaxy and implications for its halo

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Abstract
Using a variety of observations, it is shown that the gaseous, magnetic field, and cosmic-ray components in the local region of the Galaxy may be in a large-scale hydrostatic equilibrium that is stable against Parker type instabilities. Such an equilibrium sets limits on the characteristics of the gaseous halo. The density of the base of the halo is found to be approximately given by (0.15 - 0.3)(hhalo/kpc)-2cm-3, where hhalo is the exponential scale height which is argued to be ⪆5 kpc. The halo gas has to be hot in a stable equilibrium; typically ≡106K in the galactic plane and beyond a few kpc from the plane, but could be only about (2 - 3)×105K at z ≈ 1 - 3 kpc.

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