Researchers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have studied the powerful winds in the center of the spiral galaxy NGC 253, which play a crucial role in the life cycle of stars and galaxies. The study challenges earlier models by showing that these winds are not spherical but more focused, and de
Data from Chandra show the effects of powerful winds launched from the center of a nearby galaxy. An amount of hot gas equivalent to about two million Earth masses blows away from the galaxy’s center every year. These images of NGC 253 include Chandra data showing that these winds blow to the upper right and lower left. The images also show visible light data from Kitt Peak, emission from hydrogen, and infrared data from Spitzer.
NGC 253 gives astronomers a keyhole through which to study this important phase in the stellar life cycle. The material that the young stars send out into intergalactic space across hundreds of light-years is enriched with elements forged in their interior. These elements, which include many responsible for life on Earth, are folded into the next generations of stars and planets.
A team led by Sebastian Lopez of The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, used deep Chandra observations, taken over four days, to study the properties of the wind. They found that the densities and temperatures of the gas in the wind are the highest in regions less than about 800 light-years from the center of the galaxy — and then decrease with distance farther away.
A hint about what is missing comes from the team’s observation that the wind cools rapidly as it moves away from the center of the galaxy. This suggests that the wind is plowing up cooler gas, causing the wind to cool and slow down. Such a ‘wind plow’ effect might be the extra physics required to produce better agreement between theory and observations.
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