A HaloSat Analysis of the Cygnus Superbubble

• Published in: The Astrophysical journal Vol. 905; no. 2; pp. 91 - 100
• Main Authors: Bluem, Jesse, Kaaret, Philip, Fuelberth, William, Zajczyk, Anna, LaRocca, Daniel M., Ringuette, R., Jahoda, Keith M., Kuntz, K. D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Goddard Space Flight Center The American Astronomical Society 01-12-2020; American Astronomical Society; IOP Publishing
• Subjects: Absorption; Astronomy; Astrophysics; Emission; Hypernovae; OB associations; Optics; Soft x rays; Stellar winds; Supernova remnants; Supernovae; Thermal energy; X-ray astronomy; X-ray emissions
• ISSN: 0004-637X; 1538-4357
• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/abc41b

The Cygnus Superbubble(CSB)is a region of soft X-ray emission approximately 13 degrees wide in the direction of the local spiral arm. Such a large region might be the result of strong stellar winds and supernovae from nearby stellar nurseries, or it could be the result of a single event—a hypernova. HaloSat observed four nonoverlapping10 degree diameter fields in the CSB region over the 0.4-7 keV band. The CSB absorption and temperature was found to be consistent over all four fields, with a weighted average of 6.1×1021cm−2and 0.190 keV, respectively. These observations suggest that the CSB is a cohesive object with a singular origin. The total thermal energy for the CSB is estimated at 4×1052erg, based upon a shell-like physical model of the CSB. Absorption and distance estimates to Cyg OB associations are examined. The CSB absorption is found to be most consistent with the absorption seen in Cyg OB1, implying that the CSB lies at a similar distance of 1.1–1.4 kpc.\