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Supershells And Propagating Star Formation, R. Mccray, Menas Kafatos
Supershells And Propagating Star Formation, R. Mccray, Menas Kafatos
Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research
Stellar winds and repeated supernovae from an OB association will create a cavity of coronal gas in the interstellar medium, with radius greater than 100 pc, surrounded by a dense, expanding shell of cool interstellar gas. If the association has a typical initial mass function, its supernovae explosions will inject energy into the supershell at a nearly constant rate for about 5 x 10^7 yr. The supershell loses its interior pressure and enters the snowplow phase when radiative cooling becomes important or when the shell bursts through the gas disk of a galaxy, typically after a few times 10^7 yr …