Abstract
The global properties of the interstellar medium with processes such as
infall and outflow of gas and a large scale circulation of matter and its
consequences for star formation and chemical enrichment are important for the
understanding of galaxy evolution. In this paper we studied the kinematics and
morphology of the diffuse ionized gas (DIG) in the disk and in the halo of the
star forming spiral galaxy NGC 4666 to derive information about its kinematical
properties. Especially, we searched for infalling and outflowing ionized gas.
We determined surface brightness, radial velocity, and velocity dispersion of
the warm ionized gas via high spectral resolution (R ~ 9000) Fabry-Pérot
interferometry. This allows the determination of the global velocity field and
the detection of local deviations from this verlocity field. We calculated
models of the DIG distribution and its kinematics for comparison with the
measured data. In this way we determined fundamental parameters such as the
inclination and the scale height of NGC 4666, and established the need for an
additional gas component to fit our observed data. We found individual areas,
especially along the minor axis, with gas components reaching into the halo
which we interpret as an outflowing component of the diffuse ionized gas. As
the main result of our study, we were able to determine that the vertical
structure of the DIG distribution in NGC 4666 is best modeled with two
components of ionized gas, a thick and a thin disk with 0.8 kpc and 0.2 kpc
scale height, respectively. Therefore, the enhanced star formation in NGC 4666
drives an outflow and also maintains a thick ionized gas layer reminiscent of
the Reynold's layer in the Milky Way.
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