Study on the global distribution of far-ultraviolet emission in our Galaxy

FIMS/SPEAR is a dual-channel far-ultraviolet imaging spectrograph on board the Korean microsatellite STSAT-1, which was launched on 2003 September 27. The primary mission goal of FIMS was to conduct a survey of diffuse far UV emissions in our Galaxy. For this purpose, FIMS completed a survey of about 84% of the sky during its operation of a year and a half. The present study aims to analyze this survey data made in the far UV wavelengths to understand the global evolution of our Galaxy. The far UV wavelength band is known to contain important cooling lines of hot gas: hence, the study will show how the hot gas in our Galaxy, produced by stellar winds and supernova explosion, evolves globally to cool down and become mixed with ambient cooler medium. One of the main findings from previous analyses of the FIMS data is that molecular hydrogen exists ubiquitously in our Galaxy. This discovery leads to another important scientific question: how is molecular hydrogen distributed in our Galaxy and how does it affect globally the evolution of our Galaxy as a cold component? Hence, the present study will cover both the hot and cold components of the ISM, which will also provide the opportunity to investigate the interactions between the two.