Galactic wind

A large-scale outflow of gas from a galaxy, driven by stellar activity or energy released by a central black hole. It can carry gas, dust, and metals into the surrounding space.

Supernova: A stellar explosion that ejects material and releases energy into its surroundings. Overlapping supernovae can heat interstellar gas and drive it out of a galaxy.
Interstellar medium: The gas, dust, and energetic particles occupying the space between stars in a galaxy. It supplies much of the material swept up and heated by galactic winds.
Mass loading factor: The ratio of gas outflow rate to star-formation rate in a galaxy. It quantifies how much gas a wind removes relative to the rate of stellar growth.
Star formation: The process by which dense regions of gas collapse to form stars. Removing or heating cold gas can suppress future star formation.
Relativistic jet: A narrow, fast outflow of plasma moving near the speed of light from an energetic astronomical source. Jets are collimated channels, whereas galactic winds are generally broader flows of gas.
Stellar wind: A stream of charged particles flowing from a star’s atmosphere. Winds from massive stars add momentum and energy before those stars explode.
Circumgalactic medium: The diffuse gas surrounding a galaxy beyond its main stellar disk. Wind material enters this halo and exchanges mass and energy with it.
Lyman-alpha line: An ultraviolet spectral line produced when hydrogen atoms transition from their first excited state to the ground state. Wind-driven gas can shift and reshape this line in spectra of distant galaxies.
Chemical enrichment: The increase of heavy elements in gas through stellar evolution and the dispersal of stellar products. Winds transport newly produced elements from galaxies into their surroundings.
AGN feedback: The influence of energy and momentum from an active galactic nucleus on its host galaxy and surroundings. Galactic winds are one possible form of feedback from an active nucleus.

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