Galactic winds that extend on a scale comparable to the host galaxies
are now known to be a common feature both locally and at high
redshifts. These winds are significant carriers of mass, momentum,
and energies that may impact the formation and evolution of the host
galaxies and the surrounding intergalactic medium. Given the scope of
this conference, the present review focusses exclusively on
starburst-driven winds. AGN-driven galactic winds, perhaps a very important
phenomenon in the lives of galaxies with spheroids
(Kormendy & Gebhardt
2001),
are not discussed here (see, e.g.,
Veilleux et al. 2002a
for a recent review of this topic). Due to space
limitations, the emphasis of this review is on the recent
(
1998)
literature. Readers interested in results from earlier studies may
refer to the reviews by
Strickland (2002) and
Heckman (2002).
First, the basic physics of starburst-driven winds is described briefly in Section 2. An observational summary of the properties of local winds is given in the preamble to Section 3. The remainder of Section 3 describes detailed data on three well-studied cases of local starburst-driven winds, and summarizes the evidence for winds in luminous and ultraluminous infrared galaxies and distant Lyman break galaxies. This section often emphasizes the importance of using multiwavelength data to draw a complete picture of this complex multi-phase phenomenon. The impact of starburst-driven winds on the host galaxies and their environment is discussed briefly in Section 4. Here the focus of the discussion is on the existence and properties of the wind fluid and on the size of the "zone of influence" of these winds. A summary is given in Section 5.