Animation caption: Exploding stars or supernovas in the Milky Way are thought to be the primary mechanism by which hot gas is blasted from the plane of the galaxy into its halo or corona. The idea that our galaxy is swathed in gas as hot as half-a-million degrees Fahrenheit has been around for about 45 years, but was only recently firmed up with evidence obtained by University of Wisconsin-Madison astronomers using NASA's new FUSE satellite.
Animation credit: Courtesy of NASA
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(To obtain a videotape of this animation, contact Terry Devitt, UW-Madison Office of News and Public Affairs, 608-262-8282, trdevitt@facstaff.wisc.edu)
Caption: The corona or halo of the Milky Way contains extremely hot ionized oxygen that was probably blasted from the star-rich plane of the galaxy by exploding stars or supernovas. This image shows the corona of the Milky Way and the irregularly distributed clouds of superhot oxygen.
Image credit: Courtesy of NASA
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