2023-12-28 05:00:06
Galactic winds allow an exchange of matter between galaxies and their external environment. They thus regulate their growth, in particular their rate of star formation. Although already observed in the local Universe, an international research team led by a researcher (A researcher (female researcher) designates a person whose job consists of making…) from the CNRS, has just highlighted the existence of this phenomenon in galaxies over seven billion years old forming (In intonation, changes in fundamental frequency are seen as variations of…) actively stars, i.e. most galaxies. These results prove that this is a universal process. Established using the Muse instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, published on December 6, 2023 in the journal Nature.
The spiral galaxy (In mathematics, a spiral is a curve that begins at a central point and then goes out…) NGC 2683
These winds result from the explosion of massive stars. Diffuse and of low density, they are generally difficult to observe. To achieve this, scientists combined very long exposure images of around a hundred galaxies. By studying the emission signals of the magnesium atom (Magnesium is a chemical element, with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12.), the research team was also able to establish a mapping (Mapping designates the realization and the study of geographical maps. The…) of the morphology of these winds which take the form of cones of matter escaping from on either side of the galaxy (A galaxy is, in cosmology, an assembly of stars, gas, dust and…), perpendicular to its plane.
In the future, scientists would like to assess the amount of material transported by these winds and the extent of their propagation.
Scientists were able to identify the morphology of galactic winds. In this figure, the winds are traced via the emission of the magnesium atom. We observe that the flow of matter is perpendicular to the galactic disk, in particular, from its center.
© Yucheng Guo
Reference:
Observational Evidence of the Prevalence of Bipolar Galactic Outflows out to 10 kpc at z≈ 1 for Massive Galaxies.
Y. Guo, et al.
Nature, December 6, 2023.
DOI:
1703741119
#Stellar #winds #regulate #growth #galaxies