Speaker: Jay Gallagher, UW Astronomy Prof and Chair
Abstract: Gas outflows from galaxies are a key aspect of the feedback process. Winds act as a cosmic safety valve to limit star formation while also injecting metals, magnetic fields, and cosmic rays along with fast moving gas into their surroundings. They also may provide a path for the escape of Lyman continuum photons through the hot, highly ionized wind material. Studies of 3 nearby classic starburst galaxies with winds, M82, NGC 253, and NGC 1569 offer new insights into how how starburst winds are launched and the conditions under which they break out. I will review our work on this topic that has been largely based on observations obtained with WIYN and Hubble Space Telescope, and also briefly describe work in progress with Ellen Zweibel and Tova Yoast-Hull to better understand cosmic ray interactions in these types of systems.