Kompaneets Model Fitting of the Orion-Eridanus Superbubble

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.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables, accepted by MNRAS, minor grammatical change