NASA's Chandra observatory discovers wind effects of nearby galaxy

A new study using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory shows the effects of powerful winds launched from the center of a nearby galaxy, NGC 253, located 11.4 million light-years from Earth.

This galactic wind is composed of gas with temperatures of millions of degrees that glows in X-rays, according to the study, published in The Astrophysical Journal.

NGC 253 is a spiral galaxy, making it similar to the Milky Way. However, stars are forming in NGC 253 about two to three times more quickly than in our home galaxy, according to NASA.

Some of these young stars are massive and generate a wind by ferociously blowing gas from their surfaces. Even more powerful winds are unleashed when these stars explode as supernovae, and hurl waves of material out into space, according to NASA.

The research team led by Sebastian Lopez of the Ohio State University used deep Chandra observations, taken over four days, to study the properties of the wind.

They found that the densities and temperatures of the gas in the wind are the highest in regions less than about 800 light-years from the center of the galaxy, and then decrease with distance farther away.