Starburst-driven Galactic Outflow

Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach in collaboration with NASA’s Universe of Learning partners: Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

 

Video imagery:

·       Wide field optical image of NGC 253: SO/La Silla Observatory

·       Composite image of NGC 253 central region: X-ray: NASA/CXC/The Ohio State Univ/S. Lopez et al.; H-alpha and Optical: NSF/NOIRLab/AURA/KPNO/CTIO; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Spitzer/D. Dale et al

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Images of nebulae, galaxies, stars, and planets move downwards and then to the right. Title text, News From the Universe.

 

A spiral galaxy appears. Text, April 6, 2023. Starburst-Driven Galactic Outflow. Optical.

 

NGC 253 is a galaxy with lots of star formation, and also many supernovas as massive stars race through their lifecycles.

 

A cloud of pink gas appears.

 

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory shows outflow winds of superheated gas, colored pink and white.

 

The pink gas cloud is surrounded by other gas clouds with an orange color.

 

Text, The wind could be generated by a ring of "super" star clusters.

 

However, the chemical distribution in the outflow is different than in galaxy M82, which is also undergoing a burst of star formation.

 

With some pieces of the physics puzzle still missing, more investigation is needed to understand the outflows of star-forming galaxies.

 

This news was brought to you in part by the Chandra X-Ray Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

 

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