Gould's Belt: Local Large Scale Structure in the Milky Way

Abstract

Gould's Belt is a flat local system composed of young OB stars, molecular clouds and neutral hydrogen within 500 pc from the Sun. It is inclined about 20 degrees to the galactic plane and its velocity field significantly deviates from rotation around the distant center of the Milky Way. We discuss possible models of its origin: free expansion from a point or from a ring, expansion of a shell, or a collision of a high velocity cloud with the plane of the Milky Way. Currently, no convincing model exists. Similar structures are identified in HI and CO distribution in our and other nearby galaxies.

9 pages, 3 figures, Handbook of Supernovae

References in corpus (2)

• The Interstellar Medium and star formation on kpc size scales
• Correlation of HI shells and CO clumps in the outer Milky Way

Cited by in corpus (3)

• A Galactic-scale gas wave in the Solar Neighborhood
• The Alma catalogue of OB stars. III. A cross-match with Gaia DR3 and an extension based on new spectral classifications
• The Radcliffe Wave as traced by young open clusters: Stellar parameters, activity indicators, and abundances of solar-type members of eight young clusters