The evolution of a magnetic bubble resulting from the expansion of Nd‐laser‐generated plasma into a photoionized magnetized background plasma is examined experimentally and is compared with theory and computer simulations. The initial laser‐produced plasma speed is greater than the plasma sound and Alfvén speeds and is energetic enough to be unmagnetized; the background plasma is effectively magnetized and its density is varied from the collisionless to the collisional regimes. The data support theoretical predictions that the initial expansion of the magnetic bubble is dominated by the uncoupled laser‐produced plasma.

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