Related papers: Observing stellar bow shocks
Supersonic turbulence is an essential element in understanding how structure within interstellar gas is created and shaped. In the context of star formation, many computational studies show that the mass spectrum of density and velocity…
High-resolution IRAS maps are used to search for the presence of stellar-wind bow-shocks around high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs). Their high space velocities, recently confirmed with Hipparcos observations, combined with their strong…
The interstellar medium of galaxies is composed of multiple phases, including molecular, atomic, and ionized gas, as well as dust. Stars are formed within this medium from cold molecular gas clouds, which collapse due to their gravitational…
The interaction of high-velocity neutron stars with the interstellar medium produces bow shock nebulae, where the relativistic neutron star wind is confined by ram pressure. We present multi-wavelength observations of the Guitar Nebula,…
Dust waves are a result of gas-grain decoupling in a stream of dusty plasma that flows past a luminous star. The radiation field is sufficiently strong to overcome the collisional coupling between grains and gas at a "rip-point", where the…
Most stars will experience episodes of substantial mass loss at some point in their lives. For very massive stars, mass loss dominates their evolution, although the mass loss rates are not known exactly, particularly once the star has left…
(ABBREVIATED) Understanding the formation of stars in galaxies is central to much of modern astrophysics. In this review the relation between interstellar turbulence and star formation is discussed. Supersonic turbulence can provide support…
A significant fraction of OB-type, main-sequence massive stars are classified as runaway and move supersonically through the interstellar medium (ISM). Their strong stellar winds interact with their surroundings where the typical strength…
The role of radiative cooling during the evolution of a bow shock was studied in laboratory-astrophysics experiments that are scalable to bow shocks present in jets from young stellar objects. The laboratory bow shock is formed during the…
We investigate the dynamics of bow shock nebulae created by pulsars moving supersonically through a partially ionized interstellar medium. A fraction of interstellar neutral hydrogen atoms penetrating into the tail region of a pulsar wind…
The circumstellar medium around massive stars is strongly impacted by stellar winds, radiation, and explosions. We use numerical simulations of these interactions to constrain the current properties and evolutionary history of various stars…
Massive stars drive the evolution of the interstellar medium through their radiative and mechanical energy input. After their birth, they form bubbles of hot gas surrounded by a dense shell. Traditionally, the formation of bubbles is…
Bow shocks and related density enhancements produced by the winds of massive stars moving through the interstellar medium provide important information regarding the motions of the stars, the properties of their stellar winds, and the…
Context. While the shapes of many observed bow shocks can be reproduced by simple astrosphere models, more elaborate approaches have recently been used to explain differing observable structures. Aims. By placing perturbations of an…
Observations with the Spitzer Space Telescope and the WISE satellite have revealed a prominent arc-like structure at 50" ($\simeq0.1$ pc) from the O9.5V/B0.5V system $\sigma$ Ori AB. We attribute this dust structure to the interaction of…
We present initial results of a new campaign of simulations focusing on the interaction of planetary winds with stellar environments using Adaptive Mesh Refinement methods. We have confirmed the results of Stone & Proga 2009 that an…
The circumstellar dust shells of intermediate initial-mass (about 1 to 8 solar masses) evolved stars are generated by copious mass loss during the asymptotic giant branch phase. The density structure of their circumstellar shell is the…
It is now well established that stellar winds of hot stars are fragmentary and that the X-ray emission from stellar winds has a strong contribution from shocks in winds. Chandra high spectral resolution observations of line profiles of O…
We investigate the dynamics of bow shock nebulae created by pulsars moving supersonically through a partially ionized interstellar medium. A fraction of interstellar neutral hydrogen atoms penetrating into the tail region of a pulsar wind…
The interstellar medium (ISM) is a key ingredient of galaxies and their evolution, consisting of multiphase, turbulent dust and gas. Some of the star-forming regions in our Galaxy originate from cloud-cloud and wind-cloud collisions, which…