Paper detail

Wind bubbles within H II regions around slowly moving stars

Interstellar bubbles around O stars are driven by a combination of the star's wind and ionizing radiation output. The wind contribution is uncertain because the boundary between the wind and interstellar medium is difficult to observe. Mid-infrared observations (e.g., of the H II region RCW 120) show arcs of dust emission around O stars, contained well within the H II region bubble. These arcs could indicate the edge of an asymmetric stellar wind bubble, distorted by density gradients and/or stellar motion. We present two-dimensional, radiation-hydrodynamics simulations investigating the evolution of wind bubbles and H II regions around massive stars moving through a dense (n=3000 cm^{-3}), uniform medium with velocities ranging from 4 to 16 km/s. The H II region morphology is strongly affected by stellar motion, as expected, but the wind bubble is also very aspherical from birth, even for the lowest space velocity considered. Wind bubbles do not fill their H II regions (we find filling factors of 10-20%), at least for a main sequence star with mass M~30 Msun. Furthermore, even for supersonic velocities the wind bow shock does not significantly trap the ionization front. X-ray emission from the wind bubble is soft, faint, and comes mainly from the turbulent mixing layer between the wind bubble and the H II region. The wind bubble radiates <1 per cent of its energy in X-rays; it loses most of its energy by turbulent mixing with cooler photoionized gas. Comparison of the simulations with the H II region RCW 120 shows that its dynamical age is <=0.4 Myr and that stellar motion <=4 km/s is allowed, implying that the ionizing source is unlikely to be a runaway star but more likely formed in situ. The region's youth, and apparent isolation from other O or B stars, makes it very interesting for studies of massive star formation and of initial mass functions.

preprint2014arXivOpen access

Signal facts

What is known right now

Open access4 authors2 topics

Next steps

Decide what to do with this paper

Use like or dislike for the fast social read. The more specific scholarly feedback stays available below when needed.

Log in to curate

Reading frame

Keep the important context close to the paper

Keep the important signals around this paper in one place: votes, save state, collection context, reviews and the metadata you need before deciding what to do next.

Institutions

Add specific reaction

Move through the context

Research map

Open full explorer

Move through nearby people, institutions, topics and adjacent work without leaving the paper page.

Building this map preview

BZPEER is loading the nearby papers, people, topics and institutions for this page.

Structured reviews

0 review(s)

ContributeLeave structured feedbackUse the review template when you have a concrete strength, concern or method question.Open review form

No structured reviews yet. High-signal critique starts here.

Work discussion

0 comment(s)

DiscussAdd a high-signal commentKeep quick notes, caveats and replication pointers separate from formal reviews.Open comment form

No discussion yet. The first strong comment sets the tone.