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C. G. Hoopes, T. M. Heckman, D. K. Strickland (JHU), GALEX Science Team
We present Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) images of the prototypical edge-on starburst galaxies M82 and NGC 253. Our initial analysis is restricted to the complex of ultraviolet (UV) filaments in the starburst-driven outflows in the galaxy halos. The morphology of the UV filaments in both galaxies shows a high degree of spatial correlation with H-alpha and X-ray emission. The UV luminosities and colors of the filaments rule out line-emission by shock-heated or photoionized gas except perhaps in the brightest filaments in M82, and suggest that most of the UV light is the stellar continuum of the starburst scattered into our line of sight by dust in the outflow. This indicates that these outflows contain cold gas and dust, some of which may be vented into the intergalactic medium (IGM). UV light is seen in the "H-alpha cap" 11 kpc North of M82. If this cap is a result of the wind fluid running into a pre-existing gas cloud, the gas cloud contains dust and is not primordial in nature but was probably stripped from M82 or M81.
GALEX (Galaxy Evolution Explorer) is a NASA Small Explorer, launched in April 2003. We gratefully acknowledge NASA's support for construction, operation, and science analysis for the GALEX mission.
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The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: choopes@pha.jhu.edu
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 #2
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