Galactic corona

The terms galactic corona and gaseous corona have been used in the first decade of the 21st century to describe a hot, ionised, gaseous component in the Galactic halo of the Milky Way. A similar body of very hot and tenuous gas in the halo of any spiral galaxy may also be described by these terms.

This coronal gas may be sustained by the galactic fountain, in which superbubbles of ionised gas from supernova remnants expand vertically through galactic chimneys into the halo. As the gas cools, it is pulled back into the galactic disc of the galaxy by gravitational forces.

Galactic coronas have been and are currently being studied extensively, in the hope of gaining a further understanding of galaxy formation. Although, considering how galaxies differ in shaping and sizing, no particular theory has been able to adequately illustrate how the galaxies in the Universe originally formed.[1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hille, Karl (2017-09-22). "Hubble's Cool Galaxy with a Hot Corona". NASA. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
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