Atoms hitch a ride on galactic winds

• Autores: Aylin Woodward
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 3137, 2017, pág. 16
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Using 3D models of galaxy evolution, Claude-André Faucher-Giguère and Daniel Anglés-Alcázar simulated the path that matter inside galaxies would have taken through the universe from the big bang until now. More detailed simulations of supernovae showed that the galactic winds move matter faster than people thought. They found that in galaxies with 100 billion stars or more, the winds actually ferried in about 50 per cent of the matter present today. For larger galaxies, this intergalactic Gulf Stream is the primary contributor to growth, allowing matter to be snatched from smaller counterparts. Such transfers are less crucial for smaller galaxies, which rely more on local galactic winds to retain any matter that might be ejected from supernovae within their system. Faucher-Giguère thinks the Milky Way gets its matter from the nearby Small and Large Magellanic clouds, two dwarf galaxies between 160,000 and 200,000 light years away