Stellar-wind bubble

Stellar-wind bubble is a cavity light years across filled with hot gas blown into the interstellar medium by the high-velocity (several thousand km/s) stellar wind from a single massive star of type O or B. Weaker stellar winds also blow bubble structures, which are also called astrospheres. The heliosphere blown by the solar wind, within which all the major planets of the Solar System are embedded, is a small example of a stellar-wind bubble.

Stellar-wind bubbles have a two-shock structure.^[1] The freely-expanding stellar wind hits an inner termination shock, where its kinetic energy is thermalized, producing 10⁶ K, X-ray emitting plasma. The hot, high-pressure, shocked wind expands, driving a shock into the surrounding interstellar gas. If the surrounding gas is dense enough (number densities or so), the swept up gas radiatively cools far faster than the hot interior, forming a thin, relatively dense shell around the hot, shocked wind.

References

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Evolution	Formation Pre-main-sequence star Main sequence Red giant branch Horizontal branch Asymptotic giant branch Dredge-up Instability strip Red clump PG1159 star Mira variable Planetary nebula Protoplanetary nebula Luminous red nova Luminous blue variable Wolf–Rayet star Stellar population Supernova Supernova impostor Hypernova Hertzsprung–Russell diagram Color–color diagram
Protostars	Molecular cloud H II region Bok globule Young stellar object Herbig–Haro object Hayashi track Henyey track Orion T Tauri FU Orionis Herbig Ae/Be
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Spectral classification	O B A F G K M Be OB Subdwarf O Subdwarf B Late-type Chemically peculiar Am Ap/Bp Oscillating Barium Carbon CH CN Extreme helium Lambda Boötis Lead Mercury-manganese S Shell Technetium
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Structure	Core Convection zone Microturbulence Oscillations Radiation zone Atmosphere Photosphere Starspot Chromosphere Corona Stellar wind Bubble Asteroseismology Eddington luminosity Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism
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Related articles	Substellar object Brown dwarf Sub-brown dwarf Planet Galactic year Galaxy Supercluster Helioseismology Guest star Constellation Asterism Gravity Intergalactic star Infrared dark cloud Starfield
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