Runaway stars: their impact on the intestellar medium

TL;DR

Runaway massive stars create bow shocks detectable in infrared, which serve as sites for particle acceleration, impacting the interstellar medium's dynamics and composition.

Contribution

This paper compiles and analyzes recent infrared data to explore the manifestations of stellar bow shocks and their role in particle acceleration.

Findings

Detection of bow shocks in infrared data.

Evidence of particle acceleration at bow shocks.

Implications for interstellar medium dynamics.

Abstract

Runaway, massive stars are not among the most numerous. However, the bow shocks built by their supersonic movement in the interstellar medium have been detected in the infrared range in many cases. Most recently, the stellar bow shocks have been proposed as particle acceleration sites, as radio data analysis at high angular resolution have shown. We present results of different manifestations of the stellar bowshock phenomenon, revealed from modern IR databases.