A Search for a Globular Cluster whose Passage through the Galactic Disk Could Induce the Formation of the Gould Belt

TL;DR

This study analyzes the past crossings of globular clusters through the Galactic disk to investigate their potential role in triggering the formation of the Gould Belt, identifying three candidate clusters with close passage timings.

Contribution

It identifies specific globular clusters whose past disk crossings may have induced the Gould Belt's formation, using recent kinematic data and trajectory analysis.

Findings

Three globular clusters closely approached the Gould Belt's formation site.

Their disk crossings occurred 82-98 million years ago, aligning with the Belt's age.

These clusters' passages could have triggered the Gould Belt formation.

Abstract

The distribution of sites where globular clusters have crossed the Galactic disk during the last 100 million years has been analyzed using the most recent kinematic data for 133 globular clusters (GCs). Three GCs (NGC 6341, NGC 7078, and $\omega$ Cen) whose distances between the positions where they crossed the Galactic disk and trajectories of the Gould Belt are less than 20\% of their heliocentric distances at the crossing time (82, 98, and 96 million years ago, respectively) have been identified. For each of the clusters, this was their next to last, rather than their last, crossing of the Galactic disk. The passage of any one of these three GCs through the disk could potentially have initiated the formation of the Gould Belt.