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   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    How cosmic winds transform galactic environments    
    Researchers model how elements move across star-forming regions    
      
     Date:   
         March 30, 2023   
     Source:   
         Ohio State University   
     Summary:   
         Much like how wind plays a key role in life on Earth by sweeping   
         seeds, pollen and more from one place to another, galactic winds --   
         high-powered streams of charged particles and gases -- can change   
         the chemical make-up of the host galaxies they form in, simply by   
         blowing in a specific direction.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   Much like how wind plays a key role in life on Earth by sweeping   
   seeds, pollen and more from one place to another, galactic winds --   
   high-powered streams of charged particles and gases -- can change the   
   chemical make-up of the host galaxies they form in, simply by blowing   
   in a specific direction.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Using observations made by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, a new study   
   details how these energetic winds, once released from the center of a   
   galaxy, directly influence the temperature and metal distribution of   
   the rest of the region.   
      
   "Galactic winds are a large part of galaxy evolution in general," said   
   Sebastian Lopez, lead author of the study and a graduate student in   
   astronomy at The Ohio State University. "As they blow from one end of a   
   galaxy to another, they alter the distribution of metals across the disk   
   and enrich the surrounding intergalactic space."  In investigating the   
   nearby spiral galaxy NGC 253, researchers found that while the amount   
   of these elements can vary, the abundances of oxygen, neon, magnesium,   
   silicon, sulfur and iron peaked in the center of the galaxy and decreased   
   with distance from it. This indicates that as hot gas cools the farther   
   away it travels from the center, it leaves behind a lower concentration   
   of these elements.   
      
   Learning more about how the celestial detritus that make up these vast   
   galaxies are disseminated across the cosmos could help astronomers   
   more deeply understand how galactic formation works in other areas of   
   the universe. "Our research could reflect that the size of a galaxy,   
   or even its morphology, could impact how gas leaves these systems,"   
   Lopez said. The study was published online inThe Astrophysical Journal.   
      
   Between 1999 and 2018, Chandra observed NGC 253 only seven times, but by   
   analyzing image and spectral data taken from those observations, Lopez   
   and his team were able to use specialized computer software to identify   
   the emission lines left by passing winds. While compiling this data,   
   they found that the research runs counter to previous X-ray studies   
   done on NGC 253, which posit that galactic winds expand spherically,   
   or in a bubble-like shape.   
      
   Instead, the models Lopez's team created show how the winds move in   
   opposite directions from the middle of the galaxy and then radiate   
   outwards toward the upper right and lower left regions. Lopez places much   
   of this discrepancy on the data available at the time of the previous   
   studies and the technological strides scientists have made since.   
      
   Still, there were a few similarities to previous work that did catch   
   researchers' interest. To determine how galactic emission differences   
   arise and if these differences depend on the galaxy's properties, they   
   compared NGC 253 to the results of studies done on the galaxy M82,   
   a similar starburst system located some 12 million light-years away   
   from Earth. After detecting the same metals and similar distributions   
   within M82 that they did with NGC 253, Lopez said that comparing the   
   two led the team to discern that a process called charge exchange --   
   the stripping of an electron from a neutral atom by an ion - - plays a   
   large part in X-ray emission.   
      
   "In order for scientists to create a realistic galaxy in simulations, we   
   need to know where these heavy elements are going," Lopez said. "Because   
   if you were to model it and not include charge exchange into these models,   
   they wouldn't match up." If such calculations were inherently wrong, he   
   said, scientists would have a hard time using their observations to make   
   educated guesses about what the universe looks like and how it operates.   
      
   But Lopez imagines the more accurate models created from this study will   
   help astronomers study the winds of other galaxies, such as calculating   
   their velocities and discovering what makes them so good at creating   
   unique stellar environments. "Next, we want to do this analysis for a   
   larger set of different galaxies and see how things change," Lopez said.   
      
   This research was supported by NASA. Co-authors were Laura Lopez,   
   Dustin Nguyen, Todd Thompson, Smita Mathur and Amy Sardone of Ohio State,   
   Alberto Bolatto of the University of Maryland, and Neven Vulic of Eureka   
   Scientific.   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Space_&_Time   
                   # Galaxies # Astrophysics # Astronomy # Black_Holes   
                   # Cosmology # Space_Telescopes # Cosmic_Rays #   
                   Space_Exploration   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Solar_wind o Globular_cluster o Milky_Way o   
             Van_Allen_radiation_belt o Magellanic_Clouds o   
             Interstellar_medium o Galaxy o Particle_accelerator   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by Ohio_State_University. Original   
   written by Tatyana Woodall. Note: Content may be edited for style   
   and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Sebastian Lopez, Laura A. Lopez, Dustin D. Nguyen, Todd A. Thompson,   
         Smita Mathur, Alberto D. Bolatto, Neven Vulic, Amy Sardone. X-Ray   
         Properties of NGC 253's Starburst-driven Outflow. The Astrophysical   
         Journal, 2023; 942 (2): 108 DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aca65e   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230330102250.htm   
      
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