Potential Condensed Fuel for the Milky Way

Potential condensed clouds of gas in the Galactic halo are examined in the context of the recent models of cooling, fragmenting clouds building up the baryonic mass of the Galaxy. 582 high-velocity clouds (HVCs) are defined as the potential infalling, condensed clouds and the sample’s spatial and velocity distribution are presented. With the majority of the hydrogen in the clouds ionized (∼ 85%), the clouds at a distribution of distances within 150 kpc, and their individual total masses below 10 M⊙, the total mass in potentially condensed clouds is 1.1 − 1.4 × 10 M⊙. If the tighter distance constraint of < 60 kpc is adopted this mass range drops to 4.5 − 6.1 × 10 M⊙. The implications on the condensing cloud models, as well as feedback and additional accretion methods, are discussed. Subject headings: Galaxy: halo − intergalactic medium − galaxies: formation − cooling flows − Galaxy: formation