Gould Belt

The Gould Belt is a partial ring of stars local to us in the Milky Way. It is about 3000 light years across, tilted from the galactic plane by 16 to 20 degrees. It has many large and bright O- and B-type stars.Alves, João and others 2020. A galactic-scale gas wave in the solar neighbourhood. Nature Accelerated Article Preview. 

The belt may be the local spiral arm to which the Sun belongs. At present the Sun is about 325 light years from the arm's centre. The belt is thought to be from 30 to 50 million years old, and of unknown origin. Benjamin Gould identified it in 1879.

The belt contains bright stars in many constellations including (in order going more or less eastward) Cepheus, Lacerta, Perseus, Orion, Canis Major, Puppis, Vela, Carina, Crux (the Southern Cross), Centaurus, Lupus, and Scorpius (including the Scorpius-Centaurus Association). 

 Overview 
Star-forming regions with bright O and B stars make up the Gould Belt. These regions include the Orion Nebula and the Orion molecular clouds, the Scorpius-Centaurus OB Association, Cepheus OB2, Perseus OB2, and the Taurus-Auriga Molecular Clouds. 

A theory proposed around 2009 suggests that the Gould Belt formed about 30 million years ago when a blob of dark matter collided with the molecular cloud in our region. There is also evidence for similar Gould belts in other galaxies."Orion's dark secret: Violence shaped the night sky", New Scientist, 21 Nov. 2009, pp. 42–5.

 Related pages 
Radcliffe wave, a recent description of our local area of the galaxy.

References

Other websites
 Gould Belt - Astronoo
 Map of the Gould Belt
 3D evolution of the Gould Belt
 The Spitzer Gould Belt Survey

Category:Open star clusters
Category:Milky Way