O VI gas - Circumstellar or interstellar

Abstract

Observations in the UV spectra from the Copernicus satellite have revealed absorption lines from five-times ionized oxygen atoms. To explain this abundance, two explanations have been advanced to supplant the traditional model of steady loss from nearby stars. One, ionization from circumstellar bubbles, is said to result from rapidly rotating stars. The other, examined in more detail, suggests a mechanism whereby shock waves from explosive disturbances in nearby supernovae preferentially channel coronal-type O VI regions in the interstellar medium into areas of high temperature (above 100,000 K). An examination of column densities with increasing distribution is proposed to examine the hypotheses, although the results are as yet inconclusive.