kids encyclopedia robot

Local Bubble facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
The Local Interstellar Cloud and neighboring G-cloud complex
Map showing the Sun near the edge of the Local Interstellar Cloud and Alpha Centauri about four light-years away in the neighboring G-Cloud complex

The Local Bubble, or Local Cavity, is where we are in our galaxy. It is a relative cavity in the interstellar medium (ISM) of the Orion Arm in the Milky Way. It contains among others, the Local Interstellar Cloud, which contains the Solar System, and the G-Cloud. It is at least 300 light years across. It has a neutral-hydrogen density of about 0.05 atoms/cm3, or about one tenth of the average for the ISM in the Milky Way (0.5 atoms/cm3)

The exceptionally sparse gas of the Local Bubble is the result of supernovae that exploded within the past ten to twenty million years. The gas is still in an excited state, emitting in the X-ray band.

Images for kids

  • LocalBubble

    Model of space near the Sun: (grey) Local Bubble, (magenta) molecular clouds, (cyan) Loop I Bubble.

  • LocalSpur

    Close up on the Orion Arm, with major stellar associations (yellow), nebulae (red) and dark nebulae (grey) around the Local Bubble.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Burbuja Local para niños

kids search engine
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
Local Bubble Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.