In this region, the typical column density of neutral hydrogen is NH = 0.6 x 1020 cm−2.[2] This column density is moderately lower than typical values near the galactic poles, where NH ∼ {\displaystyle \sim } 1020 cm−2, and H I column densities of NH > 1021 cm−2 are common at low galactic latitudes and towards H I clouds.[5]