Abstract
Recently, observations with the ROSAT PSPC instrument and the spectrometers onboard the EUVE satellite have given new detailed information on the structure and physical conditions of the Local Bubble. From the early rocket experiments, and in particular from the WISCONSIN Survey, the existence of a diffuse hot gas in the vicinity of the solar system, extending out to about 100 pc, has been inferred in order to explain the emission below 0.3 keV. The higher angular resolution and sensitivity of ROSAT made it possible to use diffuse neutral clouds as targets for shadowing the soft X-ray background. Thus, in some directions, more than half of the flux in the 0.25 keV band appears to come from outside the Local Bubble. Further, measurements of the diffuse EUV in the LI SM, show surprisingly few emission lines. These findings are in conflict with the standard LHB model, which assumes a local hot (T ~ 106 K) plasma in CIE. Model calculations, based on the non-equilibrium cooling of an expanding plasma, show a promising way of reconciling all available observations. Thus the present temperature within the LB may be as low as 4 × 104 K and its number density as large as 2 × 10-2 cm -3, giving a total pressure that is roughly in agreement with the Local Cloud.
Heisenberg Fellow
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Abbreviations
- CIE:
-
collisional ionization equilibrium
- ISM:
-
Interstellar Medium
- LHB:
-
Local Hot Bubble
- LB:
-
Local Bubble
- LISM:
-
Local ISM
- SB:
-
superbubble
- SXR:
-
soft X-ray
- SXRB:
-
SXR Background
- VLISM:
-
Very Local ISM
References
Bertaux, J.L., Lallement, R., Kurt, V.G., Mironova, E.N., 1985, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 150, 1.
Bloch, J.J., Jahoda, K., Juda, M., McCammon, D., Sanders, W.T., Snowden, S.L., Zhang, J., 1986, Astrophysical Journal, Letters to the Editor, 308, 59.
Bowyer, C.S., Field, G.B., Mack, J.E., 1968, NATURE, 217, 32.
Bregman, J.N., Pildis, R.A., 1994, Astrophysical Journal, 420, 570.
Breitschwerdt, D., 1994, Habilitationsschrift, Universität Heidelberg, 158p.
Breitschwerdt, D., Schmutzler, T., 1994, NATURE, 371, 774.
Chassefière, E., Bertaux, J.L., Lallement, R., Sandel, B.R., Broadfoot, L., 1988, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 199, 304.
Cox, D.P., Anderson, P.R., 1982, Astrophysical Journal, 253, 268.
Cox, D.P., Reynolds, R.J., 1987, Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 25, 303.
Cox, D.P., Smith, B.W., 1974, Astrophysical Journal, Letters to the Editor, 189, 105.
Dettmar, R.-J., 1992, Fundamentals of Cosmic Physics, 15, 143.
Edgar, R.J., Cox, D.P., 1993, Astrophysical Journal, 413, 190.
Giacconi, R., Gurski, H. Paolini, F., Rossi, B.B., 1962, Physical Review Letters, 9, 439.
Gry, C., York, D.G., Vidal-Madjar, A., 1985, Astrophysical Journal, 296, 593.
Henry, R.C., Fritz, G., Meekens, J.F., Friedman, H., Bryam, E.T., 1968, Astrophysical Journal, Letters to the Editor, 163, L11.
Innes, D.E., Hartquist, T.W., 1984, Monthly Notices of the RAS, 209, 7.
Jelinsky, P., Vallerga, J.V., Edelstein, J., 1995, Astrophysical Journal, 442, 653.
Jenkins, E.B., Meloy, D.A., 1974, Astrophysical Journal, Letters to the Editor, 193, 121.
Kafatos, M., 1973, Astrophysical Journal, 182, 433.
Kerp, J., Herbstmeier, U., Mebold, U., 1993, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 268, L21.
Landini, M., Monsignori-Fossi, B.C., 1990, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Supplement Series, 82, 229.
Lockman, F.J., Hobbs, L.M., Shull, J.M., 1986, Astrophysical Journal, 301, 380.
McCammon, D., Sanders, W.T., 1990, Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 28, 657.
McKee, CF., Ostriker, J.P., 1977, Astrophysical Journal, 218, 148.
Norman, CA., Ikeuchi, S., 1989, Astrophysical Journal, 345, 372.
Raymond, J.C., Smith, B.W., 1977, Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series, 35, 419.
Reynolds, R.J., 1990, Astrophysical Journal, 348, 153.
Sanders, W.T., et al., 1993, Proc. SPIE, 2006, 221.
Sanders, W.T., Kraushaar, W.L., Nousek, J.A., Fried, P.M., 1977, Astrophysical Journal, Letters to the Editor, 217, 87.
Schmutzler, T., Tscharnuter, W.M., 1993, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 273, 318.
Shapiro, RR., Moore, R.T., 1976, Astrophysical Journal, 207, 460.
Slavin, J.D., 1989, Astrophysical Journal, 346, 718.
Snowden, S.L., Cox, D.P., McCammon, D., Sanders, W.T., 1990, Astrophysical Journal, 354, 211.
Snowden, S.L., McCammon, D., Verter, F., 1993, Astrophysical Journal, Letters to the Editor, 409, 21.
Snowden, S.L., Mebold, U., Herbstmeier, U., Hirth, W., Schmitt, J.H.M.M., 1991, Science, 252, 1529.
Tanaka, Y., Bleeker, J.A.M., 1977, Space Science Reviews, 20, 815.
Trümper, J., 1983, Adv. Space Res., 2(4), 241.
Wang, Q.D., Walterbos, R.A.M., Steakley, M.F., Norman, CA., Braun, R., 1995, Astrophysical Journal, 439, 176.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1996 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this paper
Cite this paper
Breitschwerdt, D. (1996). The Local Bubble. In: Von Steiger, R., Lallement, R., Lee, M.A. (eds) The Heliosphere in the Local Interstellar Medium. Space Science Series of ISSI, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1782-8_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1782-8_19
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7296-0
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-1782-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive