Most studies of star formation—the “birth” of new stars—have been performed using static 2-dimensional photographs of star forming regions, or nebulae. Now, a new study using 3-D space motions that map stars in 3 dimensions of space, motion, and time astronomers have been able to generate a spatiotemporal map that reveales stars in our local region of the galaxy forming along the surface of an approximately 1000 light year wide bubble [1]. The stars in our “Local Bubble” are all moving away from a central point that appeared to form from several supernovae about 14 million years ago, which triggered expanding shockwaves that initiated condensation of interstellar gases into the discrete surface region of the bubble. The supernovae shockwaves—carrying all the heavy elements of the supernova metallogenesis—are responsible for triggering new star formation via the...
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