Galactic winds and the hubble sequence

Journal Article · Fri Sep 15 04:00:00 EDT 1978 · Astrophys. J.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/156425· OSTI ID:6879069

Bregman, J N

The conditions for maintenance of supernova-driven galactic winds have been investigated to assess their role in the morphology of disk-bulge galaxies. A fluid mechanical model with gas and stars which includes galactic rotation has been used to investigate several classes of winds. It is found that many galaxies, once their initial gas is depleted, can maintain a wind throughout the entire galaxy, a conditon most easily satisfied by systems with a small bulge-to-disk ratio. If the ratio of supernova heating to total mass loss falls below a critical value that depends on galaxy type and mass, only a partial wind exterior to a critical surface can exist, with infall occurring at interior points. Galaxies in which only the bulge was depleted of gas may support a bulge wind that does not interact with the colder and denser gas in the disk.These results indicate that if SO galaxies are a transition class between elliptical and spiral galaxies, it is probably because early galactic winds, which may initially deplete a galaxy of gas, are more prevalent in SO than in spiral galaxies. However, if SO's form a parallel sequence with spirals, the initial gas-depletion mechanism must be independent of bulge-to-disk ratio. These results are not strongly influenced by altering the galactic mass model, including electron conduction in the flow equations, or adding massive halos.

• Research Organization: Lick Observatory, Board of Studies in Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz
• OSTI ID: 6879069
• Journal Information: Astrophys. J.; (United States), Journal Name: Astrophys. J.; (United States) Vol. 224:3; ISSN ASJOA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640105* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Galaxies
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ABLATION
COSMIC GASES
ENERGY TRANSFER
FLUID FLOW
FLUID MECHANICS
FLUIDS
GALACTIC EVOLUTION
GALAXIES
GAS FLOW
GASES
HEAT TRANSFER
HYDRODYNAMICS
MECHANICS
MOTION
ROTATION
STARS
SUPERNOVAE
THERMAL CONDUCTION