NASA-JAXA’s XRISM Telescope Clocks Hot Wind of Galaxy M82 - UNIVERSE

The cool wind of galaxy M82 drives gas and dust up to 40,000 light-years from its core, as shown here using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes. The inset shows a Chandra view of the galaxy’s central region, where a cauldron of stellar activity kick-starts the larger-scale outflow.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; X-ray: NASA/CXC/JHU/D.Strickland; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI/AURA/The Hubble Heritage Team; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of AZ/C. Engelbracht; XRISM Collaboration et al. 2026

For the first time, astronomers have directly measured the speed of superheated gas billowing from a cauldron of stellar activity at the heart of M82, a nearby galaxy undergoing an extraordinary burst of star formation.

The material is moving more than 2 million miles (over 3 million kilometers) per hour and appears to be the primary force driving a cooler, well-studied, galaxy-scale wind.

Researchers made the calculations using data from the Resolve instrument aboard the XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) spacecraft.

“The classic model of starburst galaxies like M82 suggests that shock waves from star formation and supernovae near the center heat gas, kick-starting a powerful wind,” said Erin Boettcher, an astrophysicist at the University of Maryland, College Park and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Prior to XRISM, though, we didn’t have the ability to measure the velocities needed to test that hypothesis. Now we see the gas moving even faster than some models predict, more than enough to drive the wind all the way to the edge of the galaxy.”

A paper about the result, led by Boettcher, published Wednesday, March 25, in Nature. The XRISM mission is led by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) in collaboration with NASA, along with contributions from ESA (European Space Agency). NASA and JAXA also codeveloped the Resolve instrument.

This image of M82, captured by the Near-Infrared Camera aboard NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, shows the center of the galaxy in such detail that astronomers can distinguish small bright sources that are either individual stars or star clusters.

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Alberto Bolatto (UMD)

Sometimes called the Cigar galaxy, M82 is located 12 million light-years away in the northern constellation Ursa Major. Astronomers classify it as a starburst galaxy because it’s forming stars at a much higher rate than typical for its size — about 10 times faster than the Milky Way.  

M82 is well known for its extended, cool wind, which stretches out to 40,000 light-years and propels huge quantities of gas and dust. Scientists have studied it with many missions, including NASA’s Chandra, Webb, Hubble, and retired Spitzer space telescopes, trying to connect the dots between the stellar activity and the large-scale outflow.

Researchers particularly want to understand the role of cosmic rays. These high-speed charged particles are found throughout the cosmos and are accelerated by some of the same events scientists think produce winds like in M82. There’s a possibility they are a main source of outward pressure on the gas. 

The XRISM Resolve instrument’s high resolution and sensitivity allowed Boettcher and her colleagues to accurately measure the speed of the hot wind by looking at an X-ray signal from superheated iron in the galactic center.

The amount of X-ray light from iron and other elements told them the temperature — right within predictions at 45 million degrees Fahrenheit (25 million degrees Celsius). The heat exerts pressure on the gas and pushes it outward. This rushing from high pressure to low pressure forms the wind — the same reason winds blow through Earth’s atmosphere.

The Resolve instrument aboard the XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) spacecraft captured data revealing the velocity of the hot wind at the center of starburst galaxy M82. The energy range of iron emission lines show that the gas moves around 2 million miles (about 3 million kilometers) per hour. Inset: XRISM Xtend instrument’s image of M82.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, JAXA/NASA, XRISM Collaboration et al. 2026

The broadness of iron spectral lines conveyed the hot wind’s speed. This works through Doppler shifting, the same phenomenon that causes the pitch of a sound, like a siren, to rise or fall due to the source’s motion toward or away from you. In the case of M82, the hot material near the center flies quickly in both directions, stretching out the iron’s spectral line. The amount of stretching reveals the iron’s velocity. The researchers found that the wind is a little faster than expected. Combined with the high temperature, it’s powerful enough to produce the cool wind without cosmic rays, although they may still be contributing.

The researchers calculate that the center of M82 expels enough gas every year to form seven stars with the mass of our Sun. This presents another puzzle.

“If the wind blows steadily at the speed we’ve measured, then we think it can power the larger, cooler wind by driving out four solar masses of gas a year. But XRISM tells us much more gas is moving outward,” said co-author Edmund Hodges-Kluck, an astronomer and XRISM team member at NASA Goddard. “Where do the three extra solar masses go? Do they escape out of the galaxy as hot gas some other way? We don’t know.”

This animation shows the difference between iron-25’s spectral line in a laboratory setting compared to XRISM’s observations from the center of M82. The M82 line is broader than the lab version due to Doppler shifting, which is the same phenomenon that causes the pitch of a sound to rise or fall due to the source’s motion toward or away from you. In the case of M82, the hot material near the center flies quickly in both directions, stretching out the iron spectral line. The amount of stretch tells scientists the iron’s velocity.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, JAXA/NASA, XRISM Collaboration et al. 2026

The XRISM satellite’s observations of M82 will help improve models of starburst galaxies, which may help scientists answer these types of questions in the future. NASA’s contributions to international projects like XRISM are part of the agency’s efforts to innovate with ambitious science missions that will help us better understand how our cosmos works.

“Some of our early models of starburst galaxies were developed in the 1980s, and we’re finally able to test them in ways that weren’t possible before XRISM,” said co-author Skylar Grayson, a graduate student at Arizona State University in Tempe. “It provides opportunities to figure out why the model might not be capturing everything that’s going on in the real universe.”

By Jeanette Kazmierczak
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. 

Source: NASA-JAXA’s XRISM Telescope Clocks Hot Wind of Galaxy M82 - NASA Science 

EVs can generate widespread economic benefits, new study says - Energy & Green Tech - Automotive

Credit: Sasha Vukovic from Pexels

Putting more electric cars on the road doesn't just benefit those with enough money to buy the often-pricey vehicles, it also pushes down prices at the gas pump while strengthening U.S. energy security, according to new research from Georgia Tech's Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy.

According to the study, published in Energy Policy, widespread adoption of electric vehicles, or EVs, by 2035 would cut energy bills for U.S. households by more than 6%—including more than 4% at the gas pump. It also would drive oil imports down by 7% and increase exports by nearly 4%, the researchers say.

However, those benefits are imperiled by the repeal of national electric vehicle incentives and the recent decision by the federal government to roll back EV-boosting rules meant to increase vehicle fuel efficiency and reduce pollution, according to the study's authors, Ph.D. candidate Niraj K. Palsule; Marilyn A. Brown, Regents' Professor and Brook Byers Professor of Sustainable Systems; and former graduate student Suprita Chakravarthy. Their study was conducted prior to the federal decisions.

Electricity prices by scenario in 2035. Credit: Energy Policy (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115138

"Proponents of eliminating fuel efficiency standards and other EV-boosting policies often frame those regulatory approaches as consumer-unfriendly, but our analysis shows that such policies have many long-term benefits, both for consumers and for the nation's energy security," Palsule said.

To reach their conclusions, the researchers used a version of the National Energy Modeling System created by Carter School researchers that more accurately captures the dynamic interplay of energy production, consumption, and demand compared to other models.

They modeled the impact of vehicle fuel efficiency standards and other policies between 2022 and 2035, first analyzing what would happen to the economy with no EV incentives and only less-stringent fuel efficiency standards dating back to before 2024. They then built a model that took a middle-of-the-road approach to EV growth between the now-repealed federal standards, which sought to more than double new EV sales to 69% by 2032, and standards adopted by California and 17 other states. Those rules, which remain in effect, seek to end the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles in those jurisdictions by 2035.

The researchers found that, compared to the pre-2024 rules, the newer policies would cause household energy expenditures and gasoline consumption to fall across incomes, oil imports to fall, and oil exports to rise by 2035.

Those savings work across multiple pathways.

One is simple demand reduction: putting more electric vehicles on the road reduces the need for gasoline and imported oil, pushing pump prices down for all consumers. While upper-income households would save about 6.4% on energy, including gasoline, lower-income households likely to still be driving cars with traditional gasoline engines in 2035 stand to gain the most—spending 6.6% less on energy, according to the research.

The other pathway is through the "domino effect" that would occur thanks to cheaper, more efficient battery technology made to serve an increasing EV market. Widespread EV adoption would spur innovation and efficiencies that would make it less costly for utilities to store energy. Brown and Palsule describe this development as pivotal to helping stabilize costs and offset any potential increase in home electricity prices driven by EV adoption. Home electricity prices might even fall slightly, according to the study.

And because global oil demand seems unlikely to fall, U.S. oil producers would typically be able to ship some of the oil they would have used to make gasoline to other countries, increasing the U.S. role as a net energy exporter, according to the research. During shocks, such as the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine or Iran, Brown and Palsule say electric vehicle adoption would help cushion the U.S. economy.

Given recent events, Palsule and Brown say it's unclear whether any of the predicted savings will come to pass, however. Not only have the federal rules been repealed, the U.S. government and some other state governments are also challenging the emissions rules adopted by California and 17 other states, administratively and in court.

Even if those rules remain in place, such a piecemeal approach may not be enough to keep the momentum going, or to realize all the benefits of a widespread EV transition, they said.

"Maximizing the benefits of a transition to electric vehicles that would both help consumers and strengthen the nation's energy security can only come with a nationwide strategy," Brown said.

Provided by Georgia Institute of Technology  

by Michael Pearson, Georgia Institute of Technology

edited by Lisa Lock, reviewed by Andrew Zinin 

Source: EVs can generate widespread economic benefits, new study says