Galactic Winds and the Role Played by Massive Stars

Understand

Galactic winds from star-forming galaxies play at key role in the evolution of galaxies and the inter-galactic medium.

• They transport metals out of galaxies, chemically-enriching the inter-galactic medium and modifying the chemical evolution of galaxies.
• They affect the surrounding inter-stellar and circum-galactic media, thereby influencing the growth of galaxies through gas accretion and star-formation.
• In this contribution we first summarize the physical mechanisms by which the momentum and energy output from a population of massive stars and associated supernovae can drive galactic winds.