GSH 91.5+2–114: A large H i shell in the outer part of the Galaxy

¹ Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio (IAFE), CC 67, Suc. 28, 1428 Buenos Aires, Argentina
e-mail: scicho@iafe.uba.ar
² Département de physique, de génie physique et d’optique, Université Laval, Québec, G1V 0A6 Canada, and Centre de recherche en astrophysique du Québec (CRAQ), Canada
³ Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía (IAR), CC 5, 1894, Villa Elisa, Argentina

Received: 7 July 2010
Accepted: 12 October 2010

Abstract

GSH 91.5 + 2−114 is a large H i shell located in the outer Galaxy at a kinematic distance of about 15 kpc. It was first identified in the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey (CGPS) by Pineault et al. (2002, ASP Conf. Ser., 276, 332) as being possibly associated with objects possessing infrared colors, which indicates strong stellar winds. The H i shell has no obvious continuum counterpart in the CGPS radio images at 408 and 1420 MHz or in the IRAS images. We found no evidence for early-type massive stars, most likely as a result of the large extinction that is expected for this large distance. An analysis of the energetics and of the main physical parameters of the H i shell shows that this shell is likely the result of the combined action of the stellar winds and supernova explosions of many stars. We investigate whether a number of slightly extended regions characterized by a thermal radio continuum and located near the periphery of the H i shell could be the result of star formation triggered by the expanding shell.