Twelve Decades: Probing the Interstellar Medium from kiloparsec to sub-AU scales

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent progress in understanding the multi-scale magnetized interstellar medium (ISM) of the Milky Way, emphasizing the integration of observations and simulations to support key astrophysical initiatives in the 2020s.

Contribution

It highlights the importance of combining observational data with simulations to develop a comprehensive multi-scale model of the magnetized ISM.

Findings

Advances in understanding gas flow in the Milky Way

Integration of observations with simulations for ISM modeling

Relevance of ISM studies to gravitational wave detection, FRBs, and black hole imaging

Abstract

After a decade of great progress in understanding gas flow into, out of, and through the Milky Way, we are poised to merge observations with simulations to build a comprehensive picture of the multi-scale magnetized interstellar medium (ISM). These insights will also be crucial to four bold initiatives in the 2020s: detecting nanohertz gravitational waves with pulsar timing arrays (PTAs), decoding fast radio bursts (FRBs), cosmic B-mode detection, and imaging the Milky Way's black hole with the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT).