  The Vela OB2 association is a group of 10 Myr stars exhibiting a complex
spatial and kinematic substructure. The all-sky Gaia DR2 catalogue contains
proper motions, parallaxes (a proxy for distance) and photometry that allow us
to separate the various components of Vela OB2. We characterise the
distribution of the Vela OB2 stars on a large spatial scale, and study its
internal kinematics and dynamic history. We make use of Gaia DR2 astrometry and
published Gaia-ESO Survey data. We apply an unsupervised classification
algorithm to determine groups of stars with common proper motions and
parallaxes. We find that the association is made up of a number of small
groups, with a total current mass over 2330 Msun. The three-dimensional
distribution of these young stars trace the edge of the gas and dust structure
known as the IRAS Vela Shell across 180 pc and shows clear signs of expansion.
We propose a common history for Vela OB2 and the IRAS Vela Shell. The event
that caused the expansion of the shell happened before the Vela OB2 stars
formed, imprinted the expansion in the gas the stars formed from, and most
likely triggered star formation.
