The acceleration of high-velocity clouds in supernova remnants

Abstract

Interstellar clouds passed by blast waves emanating from supernova explosions will be accelerated by the ram pressure of the expanding interior shocked gas. We present numerical and analytical solutions for cloud acceleration in this environment, comparing the results with recent observations of faint, high-velocity (greater than 100 km/sec) filaments observed in Cygnus and Vela. Photons from the conductive interface between the clouds and the surrounding medium can provide the ionizing flux necessary for observable optical emission. Several predictions are made, the most important of which is that fast clouds of neutral hydrogen with column densities of about 10 quintillion per sq cm should be observable in 21 cm studies of SNRs.