superwind

English

Alternative forms

• super-wind

Etymology

From super- +‎ wind.

Noun

superwind (plural superwinds)

1. (astronomy) An outflow of highly energetic radiation and material from a starburst galaxy.
   • 1986, S. Bohme, The Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts: Volume 41, Literature 1986, Part 1‎^[1], Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg GmbH & Co., page 546:

     Using the VLA at 6 and 2—cm the authors searched for radio continuum emission in a list of OH/IR stars with such an asymmetric OH maser emission. No detections were made, and the authors conclude that these stars are still in the superwind phase and that the OH asymmetry is caused by envelope asymmetries and not by the presence of an ionized core.

   • 1987, Energy Research Abstracts‎^[2], Superintendent of Government Documents, page 6763:

     New data is presented that indicate that strong far infrared galaxies commonly have largescale emission line nebulae whose properties are suggestive of mass outflows (superwinds), presumably driven by the high supernova rate associated with the central starburst.

   • 2003, Jim Marrs, Natural History‎^[3], American Museum of Natural History, page 79:

     Recently supercomputer simulations have suggested that stellar winds aren’t even necessary; the random swirling of the gas can give rise to galactic chimneys by chance. One way to address the problem is to look closely at a chimney’s interior walls. If they are smooth, they’re more likely to have formed by gentle, fairly random processes. But if the walls have fine structures, ripples, or intrusions, they probably reflect an interaction of hot, sparse gas with dense, cold gas—what you'd expect if a superwind were at work. McClure-Griffiths and her collaborators made images of the galactic chimney designated GSH 277+00 +36; some images show structures more than 3,000 light-years long, others zoom in on details less than thirty light-years long.