The Gould Belt: Structure and Origin

Other

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

2

Scientific paper

The structure of the Gould Belt system of young stars and star formation complexes has been studied, mainly through the use of an extended sample of early-type stars. Statistical derivations of some of the most relevant parameters of the Belt (orientation, spatial extent, stellar content, age) are made, and some large scale trends of the recent history of star formation in the solar neighbourhood are discussed. Special attention is paid to the local kinematics of young objects; the local peculiar kinematics as revealed by anomalous values of Oort constants is fitted by an expansion of the local system along a preferential line, superimposed to the general pattern of galactic rotation. Some other regions with anomalous motions are detected outside the Gould Belt, with strong evidences for a moving group possibly related to the Cygnus Superbubble. Dynamics of the tilted plane containing the Belt implies a very constrained range of possible values for its original orientation. Moreover, indications of a vertical oscillating motion of the ensemble of stars in the Belt have been found, the association to the Belt being supported by the fact that both the oscillation axis and the current state of vertical motion relate well to the overall picture of the Gould Belt. A second part of this work is devoted to a theory on the origin of the Gould Belt. We propose it to have formed from the collision of a high velocity cloud on the galactic disk by the large scale phase transition of the galactic interstellar medium triggered by the colliding cloud. Analytic 1-D calculations provide us with the values of the most relevant quantities involved in the shock. 2-D computer simulations show the morphology of the region affected by the shock. The stability analysis of the shocked material shows that the unstable regions should have characteristics and locations similar to those of currently observed complexes belonging to the Gould Belt. The galactic magnetic field is essential in determining the further evolution of the shocked material. An overall agreement is found between the observation of structures belonging to the Belt and the predictions of our model.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

The Gould Belt: Structure and Origin does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with The Gould Belt: Structure and Origin, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Gould Belt: Structure and Origin will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1140967

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.