The distribution of diffuse [N II] 205 μm emission perpendicular to the Galactic plane at l = 7.28° is presented and compared with that of the [C II] 158 μm emission. The profile of [N II] emission, characteristic of warm ionized gas, is modeled as a Gaussian with a 13.3_(-3.3)~(+4.2) arcminutes half-width at half-maximum (HWHM), apparently narrower than the 21.9_(-1.0)~(1.1) arcminutes HWHM of the distribution of [C II] 158 μm emission. The contribution of ionized gas close to the Galactic plane and traced by these observations accounts for 10%-30% of the [N II] line emission observed by COBE FIRAS. The average ionizing flux derived for the inner Galaxy is consistent with the local hydrogen recombination rate. [N II] 205 μm emission was also detected from DR 21. The contribution of compact H II regions to the total Galactic luminosity of [N II] is discussed.
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