Speaker
Katharina Fierlinger
(TUM)
Description
The aim of this project is to shed light on the impact of massive stars on the interstellar medium (ISM) in their surroundings. A good example of a region revealing such interactions between stars and the ISM is the Orion/Eridanus Superbubble (OES), a cavity blown by stellar winds and supernova explosions. This region has the advantage of being well observed. It's interaction with the local bubble, the dilute region in the ISM in which our sun is located, makes this zone even more interesting.
We have developed a population synthesis code using modern stellar models to calculate the output of mass and energy from groups of massive stars, so-called OB associations. The spread of the ejecta into the ISM is followed with hydrodynamical simulations.
The observational constraints on the Al-26 distribution provide information on the time scales of the interaction process, since Al-26 is a radioactive trace element that decays approximately a million years after being ejected from the stars. Thus, the spread of Al-26 in different hydro models will help to understand the peculiar shape (distribution of density, shocks, evolution of star birth regions) of the OES.
Author
Katharina Fierlinger
(TUM)