Supernova origin of galactic turbulence revealed by superbubbles
Abstract
Supernovae (SNe) are among the leading candidates for powering galactic-scale turbulence. SNe drive expanding shells of neutral atomic hydrogen (HI) known as superbubbles. Due to the lack of a sensitive, dynamically complete, galaxy-wide census, superbubbles have not been used to quantify the galactic-scale turbulent energy budget. Here we present a combined Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) and Jansky Very Large Array HI survey of the Andromeda galaxy (M31), the nearest giant spiral, with superior sensitivity and dynamical coverage. We identify 118 superbubbles across the entire disk of M31 with dynamical ages up to 40 Myr, consistent with the expected duration of SN activity in a star cluster and extending the age coverage well beyond previous surveys. Inferred from these superbubbles, the kinetic energy injection rates (1049--1051.5 erg kpc−3 Myr−1) from SNe closely match the turbulence dissipation rates derived independently from the same data, in both magnitude and spatial distribution. These results demonstrate that clustered SN feedback is sufficient to sustain galactic-scale turbulence, which shapes disk structure and influences galaxy evolution.
Versions
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BibTeX
@misc{meng2026supernova,
title = {{Supernova origin of galactic turbulence revealed by superbubbles}},
author = {Fanyi Meng and Chao-Wei Tsai and Jingwen Wu and Sihan Jiao and Mordecai-Mark Mac Low and Zhi-Yu Zhang and Amélie Saintonge and Hui Li and Zongnan Li and Jie Wang and Lile Wang and Haitao Xu and Yanbin Yang and Kai Zhang and Rouyu Li and Di Li},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.21854},
eprint = {2609.21854},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.21854},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Supernova origin of galactic turbulence revealed by superbubbles
AU - Fanyi Meng
AU - Chao-Wei Tsai
AU - Jingwen Wu
AU - Sihan Jiao
AU - Mordecai-Mark Mac Low
AU - Zhi-Yu Zhang
AU - Amélie Saintonge
AU - Hui Li
AU - Zongnan Li
AU - Jie Wang
AU - Lile Wang
AU - Haitao Xu
AU - Yanbin Yang
AU - Kai Zhang
AU - Rouyu Li
AU - Di Li
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/18
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.21854
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.21854
AB - Supernovae (SNe) are among the leading candidates for powering galactic-scale turbulence. SNe drive expanding shells of neutral atomic hydrogen (HI) known as superbubbles. Due to the lack of a sensitive, dynamically complete, galaxy-wide census, superbubbles have not been used to quantify the galactic-scale turbulent energy budget. Here we present a combined Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) and Jansky Very Large Array HI survey of the Andromeda galaxy (M31), the nearest giant spiral, with superior sensitivity and dynamical coverage. We identify 118 superbubbles across the entire disk of M31 with dynamical ages up to 40 Myr, consistent with the expected duration of SN activity in a star cluster and extending the age coverage well beyond previous surveys. Inferred from these superbubbles, the kinetic energy injection rates (10^49--10^51.5 erg kpc^−3 Myr^−1) from SNe closely match the turbulence dissipation rates derived independently from the same data, in both magnitude and spatial distribution. These results demonstrate that clustered SN feedback is sufficient to sustain galactic-scale turbulence, which shapes disk structure and influences galaxy evolution.
ER -