Galactic Free-free Emission and H$\alpha$

Abstract

We review present understanding of Galactic free-free emission and its possible importance to CMB fluctuation measurements. Current results, from both ``direct'' observations in the microwave band and from H$\alpha$ studies, suggest that this foreground does not represent a serious obstacle to mapping the CMB; however, this is based on limited information and we emphasize the need for more exhaustive studies. We also present some preliminary results based on our recent H$\alpha$ observations near the South Pole CMB data sets. The fluctuation amplitude seen in H$\alpha$ indicates that the detected CMB fluctuations are not significantly contaminated by free-free emission, at least if the diffuse gas is at a temperature of $T\sim 10^4$ K.