Kompaneets Model Fitting of the Orion-Eridanus Superbubble

TL;DR

This study applies Kompaneets models to the Orion-Eridanus superbubble, revealing limitations and suggesting additional physical mechanisms are needed to fully explain its orientation and shape.

Contribution

It introduces a framework for modeling the Orion-Eridanus superbubble with Kompaneets models and discusses the model's limitations in explaining its observed properties.

Findings

A marginal fit when the Eridanus side is oriented away from the Sun.

The model requires an unusually small scaleheight of 40 pc.

The superbubble is inclined 35 degrees from the Galactic plane normal.

Abstract

Winds and supernovae from OB associations create large cavities in the interstellar medium referred to as superbubbles. The Orion molecular clouds are the nearest high mass star-forming region and have created a highly elongated, 20 degree x 45 degree, superbubble. We fit Kompaneets models to the Orion-Eridanus superbubble and find that a model where the Eridanus side of the superbubble is oriented away from the Sun provides a marginal fit. Because this model requires an unusually small scaleheight of 40 pc and has the superbubble inclined 35 degrees from the normal to the Galactic plane, we propose that this model should be treated as a general framework for modelling the Orion-Eridanus superbubble, with a secondary physical mechanism not included in the Kompaneets model required to fully account for the orientation and elongation of the superbubble.