Density Bounding of Giant HII Regions and the Ionisation of the Diffuse Interstellar Medium

Abstract

Three different types of evidence are presented in favour of the hypothesis that the HII regions in disk galaxies with Halpha luminosities greater than a critical value of 10^38.6 erg s^-1 are density-bounded, and that the escaping Lyman continuum photons from these are the principal ionising agents for the diffuse ISM in disk galaxies. This has important implications for the ionisation of the intergalactic medium, and for computed star formation rates in spirals.