Galactic winds enable the exchange of matter between galaxies and their surroundings. In this way, they limit the growth of galaxies, that is, their star formation rate. Although this had already been observed in the local universe, an international research team led by a CNRS scientist1 has just revealed — using MUSE, 2 an instrument integrated into the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope — the existence of the phenomenon in galaxies which are more than 7 billion years old and actively forming stars, the category to which most galaxies belong.
The team’s findings, to be published in Nature on 6 December 2023, thus show this is a universal process.
Galactic winds are created by the explosion of massive stars.
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