Milky Way circumgalactic medium
E487063
The Milky Way circumgalactic medium is the vast, diffuse halo of gas surrounding our galaxy that acts as a reservoir for inflowing material and an interface between the Milky Way and the intergalactic environment.
Observed surface forms (1)
| Surface form | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Milky Way circumgalactic halo | 1 |
Statements (55)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
astrophysical structure
ⓘ
circumgalactic medium ⓘ gaseous halo ⓘ |
| actsAs | gas reservoir for the Milky Way ⓘ |
| baryonContent | contains a large fraction of the Milky Way’s missing baryons ⓘ |
| baryonPhase | diffuse gas outside the stellar disk but within the virial radius ⓘ |
| componentOf | Milky Way halo NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| contains |
high-velocity clouds
ⓘ
magnetized plasma ⓘ |
| density | very low number density compared to interstellar medium ⓘ |
| dominantPhaseTemperature | approximately 10^6 Kelvin ⓘ |
| extendsTo |
approximately 200 kiloparsecs from the Galactic center
ⓘ
approximately 300 kiloparsecs from the Galactic center ⓘ |
| hasComponent |
cool gas phase
ⓘ
hot gas phase ⓘ ionized gas ⓘ metals ⓘ neutral gas ⓘ warm gas phase ⓘ |
| hasUncertainty | mass and extent are uncertain and model-dependent ⓘ |
| influences |
chemical evolution of the Milky Way
ⓘ
evolution of the Milky Way galaxy ⓘ star formation history of the Milky Way ⓘ |
| interactsWith |
Local Group intergalactic medium
ⓘ
circumgalactic medium of Andromeda (M31) ⓘ |
| kinematics | contains both inflowing and outflowing gas ⓘ |
| locatedIn | Local Group NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| massEstimate |
comparable to or exceeding the mass of stars in the Milky Way
ⓘ
on the order of 10^10 solar masses ⓘ |
| metallicity |
enriched by past star formation in the Milky Way
ⓘ
subsolar metallicity on average ⓘ |
| observedVia |
X-ray absorption lines
ⓘ
X-ray emission ⓘ quasar sightline spectroscopy ⓘ ultraviolet absorption lines ⓘ |
| partOf | Milky Way NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| redshift | approximately 0 ⓘ |
| role |
interface between the Milky Way and the intergalactic medium
ⓘ
mediates gas accretion onto the Milky Way ⓘ receives outflows from Galactic center activity ⓘ receives outflows from stellar winds ⓘ receives outflows from supernova feedback ⓘ supplies inflowing material for star formation in the Milky Way disk ⓘ |
| spatialRelation |
envelops the Milky Way dark matter halo
ⓘ
envelops the Milky Way stellar disk ⓘ |
| subjectOf |
cosmological hydrodynamical simulations
ⓘ
observations with Chandra X-ray Observatory ⓘ observations with Hubble Space Telescope ⓘ observations with XMM-Newton ⓘ |
| surrounds | Milky Way galaxy NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| temperatureRange | approximately 10^4 to 10^6 Kelvin ⓘ |
| tracedBy |
HI high-velocity clouds
ⓘ
OVI absorption ⓘ OVII absorption ⓘ OVIII absorption ⓘ |
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
Milky Way circumgalactic halo