The electron density in clouds of turbulent interstellar plasma

Abstract

The dependence of the emission measure on the dispersion measure due to the Galactic background has been derived for 120 directions in the Galaxy. This analysis has yielded the mean electron density, effective thickness of the electron layer, and the volume filling factor of the clouds of ionized gas along the line of sight. The pulsar J1745−2900, which lies in a direction close to the direction toward the center of the Galaxy, is located at least 100 pc closer to the observer than the source Sgr A* along the line of sight. The scatter-broadened angular size of J1745−2900 is determined by the turbulent medium in the Sagittarius Arm.