Local Interstellar CloudThe Local Interstellar Cloud (LIC), also known as the Local Fluff, is an interstellar cloud roughly 30 light-years (9.2 pc) across, through which the Solar System is moving. This feature overlaps with a region around the Sun referred to as the solar neighborhood. It is unknown whether the Sun is embedded in the Local Interstellar Cloud, or is in the region where the Local Interstellar Cloud is interacting with the neighboring G-Cloud.
Local BubbleThe Local Bubble, or Local Cavity, is a relative cavity in the interstellar medium (ISM) of the Orion Arm in the Milky Way. It contains the nearest stars and brown dwarfs and, among others, the Local Interstellar Cloud (which contains the Solar System), the neighboring G-Cloud, the Ursa Major moving group (List of nearby stellar associations and moving groups stellar moving group), and the Hyades (the nearest open cluster).
Interstellar cloudAn interstellar cloud is an accumulation of gas, plasma, and cosmic dust in galaxies. Put differently, an interstellar cloud is a denser-than-average region of the interstellar medium, the matter and radiation that exists in the space between the star systems in a galaxy.
Solar SystemThe Solar System is the gravitationally bound system of the Sun and the masses that orbit it, most prominently its eight planets, of which Earth is one. The Solar System is an isolated single-star planetary system (not part of a larger star system) within the Milky Way Galaxy. The system formed about 4.6 billion years ago when a dense region of a molecular cloud collapsed, creating the Sun and a protoplanetary disc from which the orbiting bodies assembled.
Interstellar mediumThe interstellar medium (ISM) is the matter and radiation that exists in the space between the star systems in a galaxy. This matter includes gas in ionic, atomic, and molecular form, as well as dust and cosmic rays. It fills interstellar space and blends smoothly into the surrounding intergalactic medium. The energy that occupies the same volume, in the form of electromagnetic radiation, is the interstellar radiation field.
Alpha CentauriStar system in the Centaurus constellation"Alpha Centauri AB" redirects here; not to be confused with Alpha Centauri Ab or Alpha Centauri b.For other uses, see Alpha Centauri (other).Alpha Centauri (α Centauri, α Cen, or Alpha Cen) is a star system in the southernconstellation of Centaurus. It consists of three stars: Rigil Kentaurus (α Centauri A), Toliman (α Centauri B), and Proxima Centauri (α Centauri C).
Supernova remnantA supernova remnant (SNR) is the structure resulting from the explosion of a star in a supernova. The supernova remnant is bounded by an expanding shock wave. It consists of ejected material expanding from the explosion, and the interstellar material it sweeps up and shocks along the way.
Proxima CentauriProxima Centauri is the nearest star to Earth after the Sun, located 4.25 light-years (1.3 parsecs) away in the southern constellation of Centaurus. Discovered in 1915 by Robert Innes, it is a small, low-mass star, too faint to be seen with the naked eye, with an apparent magnitude of 11.13. Proxima Centauri is a member of the Alpha Centauristar system, being identified as component Alpha Centauri C, and is 2.18° southwest of the Alpha Centauri AB pair.
SunStar at the centre of the Solar SystemThe Sun is the star located at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light and infrared radiation with 10% at ultraviolet energies. It is the main source of energy for life on Earth.
AltairAltair is the brightest star in the equatorial constellation of Aquila and the twelfth-brightest star in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation Alpha Aquilae, which is Latinised from α Aquilae and abbreviated Alpha Aql or α Aql. Altair is an A-typemain-sequence star with an apparent visual magnitude of 0.77 and is one of the vertices of the Summer Triangleasterism; the other two vertices are marked by Deneb and Vega.
HeliosphereThe heliosphere is the magnetosphere, astrosphere, and outermost atmospheric layer of the Sun. It takes the shape of a vast, tailed bubble-like region of space. In plasma physics terms, it is the cavity formed by the Sun in the surrounding interstellar medium. The "bubble" of the heliosphere is continuously "inflated" by plasma originating from the Sun, known as the solar wind.
Interplanetary mediumThe interplanetary medium (IPM) or interplanetary space consists of the mass and energy which fills the Solar System, and through which all the larger Solar System bodies, such as planets, dwarf planets, asteroids, and comets, move. The IPM stops at the heliopause, outside of which the interstellar medium begins. Before 1950, interplanetary space was widely considered to either be an empty vacuum, or consisting of "aether".*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.