Interstellar reddening towards six small areas in Puppis-Vela

We investigate the distribution of the interstellar dust towards six small volumes of the sky in the region of the Gum nebula. New high-quality four-colour uvby and H\beta\ Str\"omgren photometry obtained for 352 stars in six selected areas of Kapteyn, complemented with data obtained in a previous investigation for two of these areas, were used to estimate the colour excess and distance to these objects. The obtained colour excess versus distance diagrams, complemented with other information, when available, were analysed in order to infer the properties of the interstellar medium permeating the observed volumes. On the basis of the overall standard deviation in the photometric measurements, we estimate that colour excesses and distances are determined with an accuracy of 0.010 mag and better than 30%, respectively, for a sample of 520 stars. A comparison with 37 stars in common with the new Hipparcos catalogue attests to the high quality of the photometric distance determination. The obtained colour excess versus distance diagrams testify to the low density volume towards the observed lines-of-sight. Very few stars out to distances of 1 kpc from the Sun have colour excesses larger than E(b-y) = 0.1 mag. In spite of the low density character of the interstellar medium towards the Puppis-Vela direction, the obtained reddening as a function of the distance indicates that two or more interstellar structures are crossed towards the observed lines-of-sight. One of these structures may be associated with the very low density wall of the Local Cavity, which has a distance of 100-150 pc from the Sun. Another structure might be related to the Gum nebula, and if so, its front face would be located at about 350 pc from the Sun.Comment: Accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysic

The discovery of an evolving dust scattered X-ray halo around GRB 031203

We report the first detection of a time-dependent, dust-scattered X-ray halo around a gamma-ray burst. GRB 031203 was observed by XMM-Newton starting six hours after the burst. The halo appeared as concentric ring-like structures centered on the GRB location. The radii of these structures increased with time as t^{1/2}, consistent with small-angle X-ray scattering caused by a large column of dust along the line of sight to a cosmologically distant GRB. The rings are due to dust concentrated in two distinct slabs in the Galaxy located at distances of 880 and 1390 pc, consistent with known Galactic features. The halo brightness implies an initial soft X-ray pulse consistent with the observed GRB.Comment: 4 pages. 4 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter