Galactic superwinds and stellar superclouds

Image of M82 (Subaru 8m telescope) showing galactic superwinds (on the left, in red). The box shows stellar superclouds identified by the IAC team in an image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Galactic superwinds present a filament-like structure, with strong X ray emissions, which could not be explained until now. Using hydrodynamic calculations, it has been possible to determine that this structure is caused by the autocollimation of the material that forms the galactic superwinds. The autocollimation is caused by the interaction of material escaping from stellar superclouds, compact groups of stars revealed by the HST in which intense stellar formation has given rise to at least 100 very massive and very luminous stars. This interaction also explains the X ray emission.

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