A GALACTIC CHIMNEY IN THE PERSEUS ARM OF THE MILKY WAY

摘要

GALAXIES are surrounded by large haloes of hot gas(1) which must be replenished as the gas cools, This has led to the concept(2) of galactic 'chimneys'-cavities in the interstellar medium, created by multiple supernova explosions, that can act as conduits for the efficient transport of hot gas from a galaxy's disk to its halo. Here we present a high-resolution map of atomic hydrogen in the Perseus arm of our Galaxy, which shows clear evidence for the existence of such a chimney, This chimney appears to have been formed by the energetic winds from a cluster of young massive stars, and may currently have reached the stage of blowing out into the halo. [References: 27]