NASA Spots Sun-like Star Inflating Massive Bubble

"We have been studying our Sun's astrosphere for decades, but we can't see it from the outside. This new Chandra result about a similar star's astrosphere teaches us about the shape of the Sun's, and how it has changed over billions of years as the Sun evolves and moves through the galaxy."

"HD 61005 is not shy about flexing its youthful vigor. It boasts a powerful stellar wind that travels about three times faster than the Sun's, on top of being 25 times denser, the researchers found. Stellar winds are formed by the constant stream of energetic particles emitted by a star, playing a significant role in how the star system is shaped."

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has detected an astrosphere around HD 61005, a young G-type yellow dwarf star located 120 light years away. This star, approximately 100 million years old with similar mass and temperature to the Sun, represents the first observed astrosphere around a Sun-like star. The astrosphere is created by powerful stellar winds traveling three times faster and 25 times denser than the Sun's winds. This discovery provides insights into how our Sun's heliosphere formed and evolved over billions of years. The star system, nicknamed the "Moth" due to its wing-like dust disk visible in infrared observations, demonstrates how stellar winds shape and protect star systems from cosmic emissions.

Read at Futurism