Galactic wind (source code)

= Galactic wind

A <galactic wind> is a large-scale flow carrying <gas>, <energy> and <momentum> away from a <galaxy>. <Stellar winds> and <supernovae> can maintain a hot, pressurized component that expands out of a star-forming region; an <active galactic nucleus> can supply another driving mechanism. Cooler entrained <gas> can coexist with the hot component.

Observations must distinguish the wind from unrelated point sources and foreground emission. In <M82>, ROSAT measurements separated extended soft <X-ray> emission from compact sources and traced emission away from the galactic plane. The emitting <gas> need not be the freely expanding wind itself: shocked clouds can dominate the detected <radiation>.<ROSAT Observations of the Galactic Wind in M82 by Dave Strickland and others>[Abstract, spatial separation and comparison of free-wind and shocked-cloud emission]{ref}