A new study reveals that we live inside a big cosmic bubble, a giant, mysterious vacuum – teach me about science

When we think about the Earth and the Solar System, we must keep in mind that, in simple terms, they are located in space in the middle of a region characterized by the so-called “local bubble,” which is an enormous cavity about 1,000 light-years in diameter of high-density, high-temperature plasma. Surrounded by a layer of dust, gas and thousands of young stars.

In this regard, although the existence of this superbubble that appears to envelop our solar system is new to some people, the reality is that it has been characterized by astronomers since the 1970s. As with multiple space issues, there have been many Unresolved questions about this strange plasma cavity surrounded by thousands of young stars.

In this regard, some of the main uncertainties that have interested the scientific community for years relate to the true shape and extent of this cavity, as well as what is its origin and the time scale of its formation. Well, although these questions remained unconfirmed for a long time, a study was published in a prestigious journal nature He studied the local bubble in great detail and provided answers to all these unknowns.

To achieve this, astronomers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Space Telescope Science Institute studied this region in interstellar space with highly advanced techniques and were able to obtain very accurate models of the local bubble that made it possible to explain its origin and even its creation. 3D space-time animation.

In this way, according to the complex data analysis performed, it was possible to estimate that everything seemed to indicate that the formation of this giant bubble began about 14,000 million years ago with the explosion of several supernovae at its center, causing the appearance of interstellar gas expulsion. Outward, which enhances the formation and expansion of this large cavity, which is the ideal medium for star formation on its surface.

“The expansion of the local bubble created by the supernova has swept the surrounding interstellar medium into an extended crust that has now fragmented and collapsed into the more prominent nearby molecular clouds, in turn providing strong observational support for the ‘supernova-induced star formation’ theory,” the article specifies.

Currently, this massive formation that started forming 14,000 million years ago continues to expand as there are seven molecular clouds in which star formation is occurring, so this superbubble is active. “The strangely shaped bubble is not inert and continues to grow slowly,” he said. pointing to. “It's moving at about 6.5 kilometers per second, but it has lost most of its momentum and has practically stabilized in terms of speed.”

To learn more about the study you can consult: Stars are formed near the Sun by local bubble expansion