- #1
Antiphon
- 1,686
- 4
Just read an article on the internet that a giant baryonic cloud surrounds the milky way with a temperature of 1 - 2.5 million Kelvin.
http://iopscience.iop.org/2041-8205/756/1/L8?fromSearchPage=true
Now my question is this: how on Earth is it possible for such a cloud to stay that hot? Would it not cool off in *seconds* by radiation? I wouldn't expect a thin distributed could of particles to keep a temperature of million K for a millisecond let alone billions of years.
What am I missing?
A popsci reference to the article may be found here for those without access to the journal.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/25/giant_gas_cloud_envelopes_milky_way/
http://iopscience.iop.org/2041-8205/756/1/L8?fromSearchPage=true
Now my question is this: how on Earth is it possible for such a cloud to stay that hot? Would it not cool off in *seconds* by radiation? I wouldn't expect a thin distributed could of particles to keep a temperature of million K for a millisecond let alone billions of years.
What am I missing?
A popsci reference to the article may be found here for those without access to the journal.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/25/giant_gas_cloud_envelopes_milky_way/