Huge gas bubble that contains the solar system mapped for first time

A map of the Local Bubble's surface shows it is the site of star formation.

Space 12 January 2022.

The Local Bubble has star formation occurring on the bubble's surface.

TheSTScI is headed by Leah Hustak.

For the first time, the regions surrounding our solar system have been mapped.

The Local Bubble is a surface that is 1000 light years across. The solar system is found mostly in the empty space of the bubble. Cold gas and dust are left over from dead stars exploding. New stars are forming from this material.

We have known about the Local Bubble for a long time. Catherine Zucker and her colleagues at Harvard University have made a connection between the two.

They used the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite, which maps the positions, distances and motions of stars with high precision. Zucker and her team were able to create a three-dimensional map of the different star-forming regions. The Local Bubble has evolved over time and created star-forming regions using the motion data from the map.

Zucker says they have found a common origin for nearby star formation. Every single star-forming region within 500 light years from our sun can be explained.

There is a simulation of stars being born in a cloud.

A powerful explosion called a supernova happens when a star dies. The Local Bubble appears to have formed when a series of supernova shock waves swept gas and dust through space. The shell began to form a series of clouds, which are the birthplaces of new stars.

The result argues that star formation triggered by expanding shells is more important than we thought.

We don't know if the top and bottom of the bubble are open or closed, for instance. Zucker and her team are confident about the shape of the bubble where star-forming regions lie.

The journal has a reference in it.

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