skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: On the shape of expanding supershells of neutral hydrogen

Journal Article · · Astrophysics (Engl. Transl.); (United States)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01029729· OSTI ID:5446251

This paper draws attention to a feature of the ''supershells'' of neutral hydrogen, namely, the elongation of most of the expanding shells in the plane of the Galaxy, to propose a qualitative explanation of this fact in the framework of the model of a ''detonation'' wave of star formation sustained by a cascade of supernova explosions. The paper also aims to establish a possible connection between the observed shapes of the shells and the mechanisms of their formation. It is shown that in the case of a cascade of supernova explosions propagating in the galactic disk all shells with characteristic radii exceeding a critical value Z /sub c/ must be elongated along the plane of the Galaxy. Objects elongated in the direction perpendicular to this plane or spherical objects with radii exceeding Z /sub c/ must be due to other mechanisms.

Research Organization:
Principal Astronomical Observatory, Ukranian Academy of Sciences
OSTI ID:
5446251
Journal Information:
Astrophysics (Engl. Transl.); (United States), Vol. 22:3
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English