Hot Gas Halo Detected Around Galaxy NGC 4631
Explanation:
Is our Milky Way Galaxy
surrounded by a halo of hot gas?
A step toward solving this long-standing mystery
was taken recently with
Chandra X-ray observations of nearby galaxy
NGC 4631.
In the
above composite picture, newly resolved diffuse
X-ray emission is shown in blue, superposed on a
HST image
showing massive stars in red.
Since
NGC 4631 is similar to the
Milky Way, this
observation indicates that our own Galaxy
is indeed surrounded by a halo of hot X-ray emitting gas,
although we are too close to clearly differentiate them from
more nearby extended X-ray sources.
The
clusters of massive stars
probably heat the
halo gas.
Exactly how this gas gets ejected into a
halo is a topic of
continuing research.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
