Origin of the IRAS Vela Shell: New Insights from 3D Dust Mapping

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Gao, Bore Annie, Zucker, Catherine, Sridharan, Tirupati Kumara, Swiggum, Cameren, Bialy, Shmuel, O'Neill, Theo J., Peek, J. E. G., Bianchi, Luciana, Benjamin, Robert, McCallum, Lewis, Goodman, Alyssa, Alves, João, Lada, Charles, Edenhofer, Gordian, Smith, Rowan, Watkins, Elizabeth, Wood, Kenneth, Anderson, Doni
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Gao, Bore Annie
Zucker, Catherine
Sridharan, Tirupati Kumara
Swiggum, Cameren
Bialy, Shmuel
O'Neill, Theo J.
Peek, J. E. G.
Bianchi, Luciana
Benjamin, Robert
McCallum, Lewis
Goodman, Alyssa
Alves, João
Lada, Charles
Edenhofer, Gordian
Smith, Rowan
Watkins, Elizabeth
Wood, Kenneth
Anderson, Doni
author_facet Gao, Bore Annie
Zucker, Catherine
Sridharan, Tirupati Kumara
Swiggum, Cameren
Bialy, Shmuel
O'Neill, Theo J.
Peek, J. E. G.
Bianchi, Luciana
Benjamin, Robert
McCallum, Lewis
Goodman, Alyssa
Alves, João
Lada, Charles
Edenhofer, Gordian
Smith, Rowan
Watkins, Elizabeth
Wood, Kenneth
Anderson, Doni
contents The IRAS Vela Shell (IVS) is a structure of enhanced FIR emission located towards the Gum Nebula, a prominent region of $\rm Hα$ emission in the local Milky Way shaped by various galactic stellar feedback over the past several million years. We constrain the 3D spatial geometry of the IVS using a parsec-resolution 3D dust map and contextualize it within the broader Gum Nebula. Our analysis reveals a dense, bowl-like IVS structure below the Galactic plane, with a more diffuse component above. We obtain a total shell mass of $5.1_{-2.4}^{+2.4}\times 10^{4}\;\rm M_{\odot}$ and, incorporating previous studies on shell expansion, a momentum of $6.0_{-3.4}^{+4.7}\times 10^{5}\;\rm M_{\odot}\;km\; s^{-1}$. We find a spatial correlation between the morphology of the dust-traced IVS and the Gum Nebula's $\rm Hα$ emission when projected onto the sky. We quantify contributions of feedback from stellar winds, an expanding HII region, and supernovae to the IVS formation, finding that stellar winds are subdominant. Our momentum analysis shows that both an HII region and supernova feedback could drive the shell's expansion. Using astrometric constraints from Gaia and Hipparcos, we trace back nearby feedback sources and find that the massive stars $\gamma2$ Velorum and $ζ$ Puppis are currently within the IVS, producing enough ionizing luminosity to form an HII region of comparable size. Alternatively, if the IVS' momentum is primarily driven by supernovae, $1-2$ events would be required. We also identify several young massive clusters that could have hosted supernovae within the past 3 Myr.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_12381
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Origin of the IRAS Vela Shell: New Insights from 3D Dust Mapping
Gao, Bore Annie
Zucker, Catherine
Sridharan, Tirupati Kumara
Swiggum, Cameren
Bialy, Shmuel
O'Neill, Theo J.
Peek, J. E. G.
Bianchi, Luciana
Benjamin, Robert
McCallum, Lewis
Goodman, Alyssa
Alves, João
Lada, Charles
Edenhofer, Gordian
Smith, Rowan
Watkins, Elizabeth
Wood, Kenneth
Anderson, Doni
Astrophysics of Galaxies
The IRAS Vela Shell (IVS) is a structure of enhanced FIR emission located towards the Gum Nebula, a prominent region of $\rm Hα$ emission in the local Milky Way shaped by various galactic stellar feedback over the past several million years. We constrain the 3D spatial geometry of the IVS using a parsec-resolution 3D dust map and contextualize it within the broader Gum Nebula. Our analysis reveals a dense, bowl-like IVS structure below the Galactic plane, with a more diffuse component above. We obtain a total shell mass of $5.1_{-2.4}^{+2.4}\times 10^{4}\;\rm M_{\odot}$ and, incorporating previous studies on shell expansion, a momentum of $6.0_{-3.4}^{+4.7}\times 10^{5}\;\rm M_{\odot}\;km\; s^{-1}$. We find a spatial correlation between the morphology of the dust-traced IVS and the Gum Nebula's $\rm Hα$ emission when projected onto the sky. We quantify contributions of feedback from stellar winds, an expanding HII region, and supernovae to the IVS formation, finding that stellar winds are subdominant. Our momentum analysis shows that both an HII region and supernova feedback could drive the shell's expansion. Using astrometric constraints from Gaia and Hipparcos, we trace back nearby feedback sources and find that the massive stars $\gamma2$ Velorum and $ζ$ Puppis are currently within the IVS, producing enough ionizing luminosity to form an HII region of comparable size. Alternatively, if the IVS' momentum is primarily driven by supernovae, $1-2$ events would be required. We also identify several young massive clusters that could have hosted supernovae within the past 3 Myr.
title Origin of the IRAS Vela Shell: New Insights from 3D Dust Mapping
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.12381