The authors present images and long-slit spectroscopic CCD observations of the ionized gas in M82 and NGC 253, the two nearest examples of far-infrared (FIR) luminous galaxies believed to be undergoing intense bursts of star formation. In addition to bright line emission from their central-starburst regions, extensive regions of ionized gas also exist along their minor axes. The high-latitude ionized gas in NGC 253 appears to coexist with diffuse soft X-ray emission as in the case of M82. From their long-slit spectra of M82 the authors derive P(r), the radial variation in the pressure of the high-latitude warm (10⁴K) gas. The form of P(r) agrees well with the Chevalier and Clegg (1985) model of a powerful wind emanating from the starburst region.
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McCarthy et al. (1987) studied this question.