A cosmic fountain that pollutes space with materials equivalent to 50 million times the mass of the sun

The mass of the gas stream resulting from cosmic explosions is 50 million times the mass of our sun.

In a recently published study, researchers at the International Center for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) have shown a high-resolution map of the bursts in NGC 4383. They explained that stars in the central part of the galaxy explode, forming huge clouds and releasing large amounts of gases and heavy chemical elements.

Apart from hydrogen, this explosion spreads the outflow of many heavy elements such as sulfur, nitrogen and oxygen in the space.

“These are essential tools for planets like Earth, and life as we know it,” said Adam Watts, lead author of the study and a research associate at the International Center for Radio Astronomy Research.

The galaxy NGC 4383 is located in the Virgo cluster, one of the closest galaxy clusters to the Milky Way.

The International Center for Radio Astronomy research team produced the high-resolution map using data from the MAUVE Surveyor, an ultraviolet satellite that studies the stars in Virgo and other constellations. This map gives scientists a unique opportunity to study the flow of gas in a nearby galaxy.

Gases erupt from NGC 4383 at about 200 km/s (447,000 mph).

This gas flow is so huge that it takes 20,000 years to reach the end of the gas cloud.

“It's very rare to find flows like this, so every time we find a new flow, we get new information that we can use to understand the physics of what's going on,” Watts said.

According to scientists, these types of outflows occur when a galaxy rapidly forms a large number of new stars, and this is what happened at the center of NGC 4383.

Shortly after formation, the largest stars explode violently, forming supernovae.

Such explosions remove gas from the galaxy's interior and cause it to flow outward.

“The ejected gas is very rich in heavy elements, giving us unique insight into the complex process of mixing hydrogen and metals in the flowing gas,” Watts noted.

Furthermore, since this gas is the raw fuel for new star formation, its removal by the outflow slows the star formation process. This makes the gas flow an important factor in determining the rate and duration over which a galaxy can continue to form stars.

The galaxy NGC 4383 is one of the few galaxies through which scientists have been able to measure the chemical elements in the outflow.

Source: Interesting Engineering