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Cited by 301Astrophysical Phenomena and ObservationsAstrophysics and Cosmic PhenomenaAstrophysics and Star Formation Studies

The Large‐Scale Bipolar Wind in the Galactic Center

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Bland‐Hawthorn, Joss, Cohen, Martin·2003·The Astrophysical Journal
DOI 10.1086/344573
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Abstract

During a 9 month campaign (1996-1997), the Midcourse Space Experiment ( MSX ) satellite mapped the Galactic plane at mid-infrared wavelengths (4.3-21.3 μm). The much greater spatial resolution and sensitivity of the MSX 8.3 μm band, compared to IRAS at 12 μm, has revealed diffuse emission not seen before. Here we report evidence of a spectacular, limb-brightened, bipolar structure at the Galactic center extending more than a degree (170 pc at 8.0 kpc) on either side of the plane. The 8.3 μm filamentary emission appears confined to a dome-shaped shell, which extends perpendicular to the plane, and shows a tight correlation with the 3, 6, and 11 cm continuum emission over the same scales. The most likely scenario is that the extraplanar 8.3 μm emission arises from dust entrained in a large-scale, bipolar wind powered by a central starburst. The inferred energy injection at the source is ~10 54 /κ ergs, for which κ is the covering fraction of the dusty shell (κ ≲ 0.1). In accord with the stellar record in the Galactic center, we infer that a powerful nuclear starburst has taken place within the last several million years. The inferred energies require ≳10 4 / supernovae, where is the thermalization efficiency of the supernova ejecta. There is observational evidence of a Galactic wind on much larger scales, presumably from the same central source that produced the bipolar shell seen by MSX . Sofue has long argued that the North Polar Spur—a thermal X-ray/radio loop that extends from the Galactic plane to b = +80 ° —was powered by a nuclear explosion [ × 10 55 ergs] roughly 15 Myr ago, although his published models did not explain the projected loop structure. We demonstrate that an open-ended bipolar model, when viewed in projection in the near field , provides the most natural explanation for the observed loop structure. The ROSAT 1.5 keV diffuse X-ray map over the inner 45° provides compelling evidence for this interpretation. Since the faint bipolar emission would be very difficult to detect beyond the Galaxy, the phenomenon of large-scale galactic winds may be far more common than has been observed to date. The derived energetics for the bipolar wind are of the order of 10 55 ergs, in line with the energy requirement of the MSX observations. We infer that the Galactic center is driving large-scale winds into the halo every ~10-15 Myr or so.

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Crossref · 10.1086/344573

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81 of 81 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Mid-IR observations at 8, 12, and 22 μm support the idea of shocks.

    “This idea of the shock is indeed supported by mid-IR observations at 8 µ m, 12 µ m, and 22 µ m (Uchida et al. 1985; Shibata & Uchida 1987; Bland-Hawthorn & Cohen 2003; Ponti et al. 2021).”

    From The Fermi/eROSITA bubbles: a look into the nuclear outflow from the Milky Way (2024) · cites this paper as Bland-Hawthorn & Cohen 2003

    The Observations section describes 8.28 μm imaging of Galactic-center spurs and compares it with IRAS 12 μm data; §4.3 proposes wind-driven shocks. But the paper does not report 22 μm observations or say that observations at all three cited wavelengths support the shock interpretation. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • In the past two decades, it has become increasingly clear that the Milky Way is a system with a large-scale (greater than about a kpc) outflow where a multi-wavelength observation of the feedback process is possible.

    “In the past two decades, it has become increasingly clear that the Milky Way is such a system with a large-scale ( ≳ kpc) outflow where we can possibly have a multi-wavelength observation of the feedback process.”

    From The Fermi/eROSITA bubbles: a look into the nuclear outflow from the Milky Way (2024) · cites this paper as Bland-Hawthorn & Cohen 2003

  • X-shaped emission around the base of the FBs is observed in ROSAT data.

    “The most relevant feature is the X-shaped emission around the base of the FBs (at | ∆ l | ≲ 15 ◦ , | ∆ b | ≲ 20 ◦ ) as noted by Bland-Hawthorn & Cohen (2003) in the ROSAT data (see panel b of figure 4).”

    From The Fermi/eROSITA bubbles: a look into the nuclear outflow from the Milky Way (2024) · cites this paper as Bland-Hawthorn & Cohen 2003

  • The energy requirement for the X-shaped region is about 10^55 erg, about an order of magnitude smaller than the required energy of about 10^56 erg for the eROSITA bubbles.

    “The energy requirement for the X-shaped region is ∼ 10 55 erg (Bland-Hawthorn & Cohen 2003), about an order of magnitude smaller than the required energy of ∼ 10 56 erg for the eROSITA bubbles (Sofue 2000; Kataoka et al. 2013; Predehl et al. 2021).”

    From The Fermi/eROSITA bubbles: a look into the nuclear outflow from the Milky Way (2024) · cites this paper as Bland-Hawthorn & Cohen 2003

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Cites

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1 of the 82 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 6

  1. Heckman, T. M. 2002, in ASP Conf. Ser. 254, Extragalactic Gas at Low Redshift, ed. J. Mulchaey & J. Stocke (San Francisco: ASP), 292
  2. A. Dalgarno & D. Layzer (New York: Cambridge Univ. Press), chap. 10
  3. Simpson, J. P., Witteborn, F. C., Cohen, M., & Price, S. D. 1999, in ASP Conf. Ser. 186, The Central Parsecs of the Galaxy, ed. H. Falcke, A. Cotera, W. J. Duschl, F. Melia, & M. J. Rieke (San Francisco: ASP), 527
  4. Strickland, D. K. 2002, in ASP Conf. Ser. 253, Chemical Enrichment of the Intracluster and Intergalactic Medium, ed. R. Fusco-Femiano & F. Matteucci (San Francisco: ASP), 387
  5. Veilleux, S. 2002, in ASP Conf. Ser. 254, Extragalactic Gas at Low Redshift, ed. J. Mulchaey & J. Stocke (San Francisco: ASP), 313
  6. Wang, Q. D. 2002, in New Visions of the X-Ray Universe in the XMM- Newton and Chandra Era (ESA SP-488; Noordwijk: ESO), in press (astro-ph/0202317) · arXiv

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Authors
Bland‐Hawthorn, J., & Cohen, M.
Affiliations
  • Australian Astronomical Observatory (AU)
  • University of California, Berkeley (US)
ORCID
Bland‐Hawthorn, Joss
Venue
The Astrophysical Journal
Publisher
American Astronomical Society
Published
2003-01
Volume
582
Issue
1
Pages
246-256
ISSN
  • 0004-637X (ISSN-L)
  • 1538-4357
DOI
10.1086/344573
OpenAlex
W2046191203
Cited by
301
References
82
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 13
FWCI
7.50
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • The Astrophysical Journal (publishedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
  • CERN Document Server (European Organization for Nuclear Research) (submittedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (9981308)
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NAG57936)
  • California Institute of Technology
  • Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Nuclear and High Energy Physics › Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies
Keywords
Galactic Center, nuclear starburst, North Polar Spur, galactic winds, dust shells, mid-infrared emission, diffuse X-ray emission, ROSAT, Galactic plane, energy injection rate, star formation rate

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