Examining simulated MHD shock structures of astrospheres

Within this work, several investigations into magnetohydrodynamic models of astrospheres are presented. The shock structures of the astrospheres around four stars, the runaway O-star λ Cephei, the Sun, our next neighbour Proxima Centauri, and the M-star LHS 1140, were examined. A method of projecting astrospheres to generate synthetic observational images was devised and applied to the aforementioned astrospheres. Within the model of λ Cephei a selection of perturbations has been injected in front of the bow shock in order to analyse their effects on the shock structure and synthetic observational images. The influence of the relative speed between the star and its environment has been evaluated with the model of λ Cephei as a prototype in both two and three spatial dimensions. The transport of cosmic rays through the astrospheres of Proxima Centauri and LHS 1140 has been examined with regard to the habitability of Earth-like planets within the respective star's habitable zone.