A Fast, Hot Wind from a Nuclear Starburst
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Galaxies with intense star formation often host multiphase, galaxy-scale winds powered by supernovae and fast stellar winds. These are strong enough to disrupt the star-forming interstellar medium, and they chemically enrich the surrounding circumgalactic medium. However, their launching mechanism remains unknown. Here we show that thermal gas pressure is sufficient to drive the multiphase wind in the prototypical starburst galaxy M82. Using a high energy-resolution ($ΔE = 4.5$ eV) XRISM Resolve spectrum, including detections of FeXXV 6.7 keV, ArXVII 3.1 keV, and SXVI 2.6 keV, we measure the temperature ($T = 2.3^{+0.5}_{-0.2} \times 10^7$ K) and mass ($M \approx 6 \pm 2 \times 10^5$ M$_\odot$) of the hot gas in the starburst and provide the first direct measurement of its line-of-sight velocity dispersion ($σ= 595^{+464}_{-128}$ km s$^{-1}$). These values are consistent with a freely-expanding wind exceeding the galactic escape velocity. The size of the FeXXV-emitting region suggests a hot gas outflow rate of $\dot{M} \approx 4$ M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$, carrying a total energy of $\dot{E} \approx 2 \times 10^{42}$ erg s$^{-1}$. This is sufficient to drive the molecular, atomic, and ionized outflows while transporting up to $\approx 2$ M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$ of hot gas to the intergalactic medium. The estimated supernova rate implies that $\approx$ 60% of the supernova energy must be thermalized in hot gas. Our results suggest that additional driving mechanisms, such as cosmic-ray pressure, are not required to launch the wind.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: XRISM Collaboration, Audard, Marc, Awaki, Hisamitsu, Ballhausen, Ralf, Bamba, Aya, Behar, Ehud, Boissay-Malaquin, Rozenn, Brenneman, Laura, Brown, Gregory V., Corrales, Lia, Costantini, Elisa, Cumbee, Renata, Trigo, María Díaz, Done, Chris, Dotani, Tadayasu, Ebisawa, Ken, Eckart, Megan E., Eckert, Dominique, Eguchi, Satoshi, Enoto, Teruaki, Ezoe, Yuichiro, Foster, Adam, Fujimoto, Ryuichi, Fujita, Yutaka, Fukazawa, Yasushi, Fukushima, Kotaro, Furuzawa, Akihiro, Gallo, Luigi, García, Javier A., Gu, Liyi, Guainazzi, Matteo, Hagino, Kouichi, Hamaguchi, Kenji, Hatsukade, Isamu, Hayashi, Katsuhiro, Hayashi, Takayuki, Hell, Natalie, Hodges-Kluck, Edmund, Hornschemeier, Ann, Ichinohe, Yuto, Ishi, Daiki, Ishida, Manabu, Ishikawa, Kumi, Ishisaki, Yoshitaka, Kaastra, Jelle, Kallman, Timothy, Kara, Erin, Katsuda, Satoru, Kanemaru, Yoshiaki, Kelley, Richard, Kilbourne, Caroline, Kitamoto, Shunji, Kobayashi, Shogo, Kohmura, Takayoshi, Kubota, Aya, Leutenegger, Maurice, Loewenstein, Michael, Maeda, Yoshitomo, Markevitch, Maxim, Matsumoto, Hironori, Matsushita, Kyoko, McCammon, Dan, McNamara, Brian, Mernier, François, Miller, Eric D., Miller, Jon M., Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Mizumoto, Misaki, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Mori, Koji, Mukai, Koji, Murakami, Hiroshi, Mushotzky, Richard, Nakajima, Hiroshi, Nakazawa, Kazuhiro, Ness, Jan-Uwe, Nobukawa, Kumiko, Nobukawa, Masayoshi, Noda, Hirofumi, Odaka, Hirokazu, Ogawa, Shoji, Ogorzalek, Anna, Okajima, Takashi, Ota, Naomi, Paltani, Stephane, Petre, Robert, Plucinsky, Paul, Porter, Frederick S., Pottschmidt, Katja, Sato, Kosuke, Sato, Toshiki, Sawada, Makoto, Seta, Hiromi, Shidatsu, Megumi, Simionescu, Aurora, Smith, Randall, Suzuki, Hiromasa, Szymkowiak, Andrew, Takahashi, Hiromitsu, Takeo, Mai, Tamagawa, Toru, Tamura, Keisuke, Tanaka, Takaaki, Tanimoto, Atsushi, Tashiro, Makoto, Terada, Yukikatsu, Terashima, Yuichi, Tsuboi, Yohko, Tsujimoto, Masahiro, Tsunemi, Hiroshi, Tsuru, Takeshi, Tümer, Ayşegül, Uchida, Hiroyuki, Uchida, Nagomi, Uchida, Yuusuke, Uchiyama, Hideki, Ueda, Yoshihiro, Uno, Shinichiro, Vink, Jacco, Watanabe, Shin, Williams, Brian J., Yamada, Satoshi, Yamada, Shinya, Yamaguchi, Hiroya, Yamaoka, Kazutaka, Yamasaki, Noriko, Yamauchi, Makoto, Yamauchi, Shigeo, Yaqoob, Tahir, Yoneyama, Tomokage, Yoshida, Tessei, Yukita, Mihoko, Zhuravleva, Irina, Ampuku, Kazuki, Boettcher, Erin, Grayson, Skylar, Grell, Gabriel, Kosec, Peter, Sasamata, Seiya, Scannapieco, Evan
Institutions: University of Maryland, Baltimore County, University of Geneva, Ehime University, The University of Tokyo, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, University of Michigan, Space Research Organisation Netherlands, Goddard Space Flight Center, Durham University, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Kumamoto Gakuen University, Kyoto University, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hiroshima University, Fujita Health University, Saint Mary's University, California Institute of Technology, European Space Agency, European Space Research and Technology Centre, University of Miyazaki, RIKEN Nishina Center, Leiden University, Leiden Observatory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Saitama University, Rikkyo University, Tokyo University of Science, Shibaura Institute of Technology, The University of Osaka, University of Wisconsin System, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, University of Waterloo, Nagoya University, University of Teacher Education Fukuoka, Tohoku Gakuin University, University of Maryland, College Park, Kanto Gakuin University, European Space Astronomy Centre, Kindai University, Nara University of Education, Tohoku University, Nara Women's University, Meiji University, Yale University, Konan University, Kagoshima University, Chuo University, Shizuoka University, Nihon Fukushi University, University of Amsterdam, Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Tohoku University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Chicago, Arizona State University, European Southern Observatory
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7141481430
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