CU: Galaxies Launch Heavy Elements into Space

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CU: Galaxies Launch Heavy Elements into Space

Post by bystander » Mon Jun 06, 2016 8:00 pm

‘Wasteful’ Galaxies Launch Heavy Elements into Surrounding Halos and Deep Space
University of Colorado, Boulder | 2016 Jun 06
[img3="Spiral galaxies like the Milky Way are shown in the center, surrounded by the circumgalactic medium, which appears as black to our eyes. However, the circumgalactic medium contains very hot gas, shown in red, orange, and white that outweighs the central galaxies. (Credit: Adrien Thob, LJMU)"]http://www.colorado.edu/news/sites/defa ... rs_gas.png[/img3][hr][/hr]
Galaxies “waste” large amounts of heavy elements generated by star formation by ejecting them up to a million light years away into their surrounding halos and deep space, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder.

The research, which was recently published online in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, shows that more oxygen, carbon and iron atoms exist in the sprawling, gaseous halos outside of galaxies than exist within the galaxies themselves, leaving the galaxies with fewer raw materials needed to build stars, planets, and life itself. ...

The near-invisible reservoir of gas that surrounds a galaxy, known as the circumgalactic medium (CGM), is thought to play a central role in cycling elements in and out of the galaxy, but the exact mechanisms of this relationship remain elusive. A typical galaxy ranges in size from 30,000 to 100,000 light years while the CGM can span up to a million light years. ...

Bimodality of low-redshift circumgalactic O VI in non-equilibrium EAGLE zoom simulations - Benjamin D. Oppenheimer et al
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