Who discovered the Gould Belt?
John Herschel first drew scientific attention to the Gould Belt in the 19th century. Benjamin Gould later produced a more complete account of its extent, and the structure took his name.
Questions about Gould Belt
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What types of stars make up the Gould Belt?
The Gould Belt contains many O- and B-type stars, which are among the most massive and luminous. These stars formed roughly 30 to 50 million years ago.
Which constellations does the Gould Belt pass through?
Starting in Taurus, the Gould Belt passes through Perseus, Cepheus, Lacerta, Scorpius, Lupus, southern Centaurus, Crux, Carina, Vela, Puppis, Canis Major, and Orion. It traces a great circle tilted about 16 to 20 degrees from the galactic plane.
What star-forming regions are part of the Gould Belt?
The Gould Belt contains the Orion Nebula, the Orion molecular clouds, the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association, Cepheus OB2, Perseus OB2, and the Taurus-Auriga molecular clouds. The Serpens molecular cloud is often included in Gould Belt surveys but is not formally part of the belt due to its greater distance.
What did the Gaia survey find about the Gould Belt?
The Gaia survey found that several of the Gould Belt's star-forming regions belong to a separate structure called the Radcliffe wave, not a single coherent ring. The belt's circular appearance results largely from the projection of linear structures within the Orion Arm onto the celestial sphere.
What caused the Gould Belt to form?
A theory proposed around 2009 suggests the Gould Belt formed about 30 million years ago when a blob of dark matter struck the molecular cloud in our region of the Milky Way. That collision is thought to have triggered the star formation that created the belt's young stars.