There are almost no direct observational indicators of the magnetic field inside the local bubble. Just outside the bubble, the best tracers are stellar polarization and HI Zeeman splitting. These show that the local field does not follow the large-scale Galactic field. Here we discuss whether the deformation of the large-scale field by the local HI shells is consistent with the observations. We concentrate on the Loop 1 region, and find that the field lines are well-explained by this idea; in addition, the bright radio filaments of Radio Loop 1 delineate particular field lines that are “lit up” by an excess of relativistic electrons.

A radio continuum survey at medium Galactic latitudes with the 100−m telescope of the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie is being carried out at a center frequency of 1.4 GHz in total power and linear polarization. We present polarization and depolarization structures detected at medium latititudes with no corresponding observable structure in total power emission. Existence of such kind of polarization structures imply that the emission, due to the Faraday modulation of the Galactic synchrotron foreground, occurs in thin sheetlike regions. This phenomenon is a sign for fluctuating local magnetic field.

In order to study the role played by the magnetic fields in the dynamics of the interstellar medium (ISM) a two-channel imaging polarimeter (IMPOL) has been constructed. The instrument is capable of multi-wavelength observations in the visible and very near infrared (IR) wavelengths, has a sensitive CCD detector and a built-in acquisition and guidance unit. When used with a 1.2m, f/13 telescope IMPOL gives a field of view of 6 × 6 arcmin with an angular resolution of 2" so that it is well-suited to observe both faint extended objects and moderately crowded stellar fields. The instrumental polarization is less than 0.05% and the accuracy of the measurements is primarily limited by photon noise in a typical observation. In this paper, we present a brief description of the instrument and observational techniques, as well as the results of a successful observation of a molecular cloud close to the open cluster IC 5146.

The ROSAT All Sky Survey (RASS) was the first one performed with an imaging telescope in the soft X-ray regime and has led to the discovery of numerous new objects whose emission is dominated by soft X-rays. Among these are white dwarfs and a subclass of the cataclysmic variables (CVs), the Polars or AM Herculis binaries. From a pre-ROSAT census of only 17, the number of known sources of this class has increased to some 55 (Beuermann and Thomas 1993, Beuermann 1997). Distances or lower limits to the distance are available for some 35 of these, based on the detection or non-detection of the TiO-Features in their optical red spectra. The derived distances range from below 100 pc up to ~ 600 pc, implying that many of these objects are located within the “Local Bubble” of low gas density in interstellar space. As the soft X-ray emission can be reasonably well represented by blackbody emission with a typical temperature of kT bb ≃ 25 eV, spectral fits to the ROSAT PSPC spectra from either the All-Sky-Survey (RASS) or from subsequent pointed ROSAT observations allow to determine the foreground absorption column density in the direction of the polars.

Recent observations at high angular resolution of molecular clouds of low column density have revealed the presence of a conspicuous net of small scale filamentary structures, visible in the 12CO rotational lines only. In addition, the existence of unresolved structure at scales as small as ~ 200 AU in space and/or velocity space is inferred from the spectral properties of the 12CO and 13CO emission. The resolved structures are part of the hierarchy of structures observed in molecular gas in the Solar Neighborhood and appear as non self-gravitating elements confined by an ambient pressure P 0/kB ~ 3 × 104cm−3 K. We show why these structures might have their origin in the intermittent structures of turbulence in which viscous dissipation is concentrated in space and time.

We present measurements of interstellar H2 absorption lines in the continuum spectra of seven early-type stars in the Galactic disk at distances between 1 and 4 kpc. The spectra, obtained with the Berkeley EUV/FUV spectrometer on the ORFEUS telescope in 1993 September, have a resolution of 3000 and statistical signal-to-noise ratios between 20 and 80. We determine column densities for each observed rotational level and derive mean excitation temperatures and proton density limits for the H2 clouds along each line of sight. The gross properties of the H2-bearing clouds (e.g., column density, spatial density, cloud size) are consistent with those derived from Copernicus observations, though our lines of sight are much longer, with lower average reddenings and neutral gas densities. We find that the molecular fraction of the neutral hydrogen remains ~ 0.1 out to distances of 4 kpc in the Galactic disk.

To investigate a possible physical association between the Southern Coalsack and the Chamaeleon-Musca (SCCM) dark clouds we have obtained uubyβ photometry for 1017 stars covering the connecting area: 308° ≥ l ≥ 294° and –20° ≤ b ≤ 5°. Analysis of the various colour excess E(b – y) vs. distance diagrams has indicated the presence of a local low absorption volume limited at 150 ± 30 pc from the Sun by an extended interstellar dust sheet-like feature, that is followed by a region where almost no additional reddening is measured for the next 350 pc. Combined with other data on the local ISM the existence of the dust sheet at an identical distance of the SCCM dark clouds have suggested that these clouds could be higher density regions associated to the diffuse lane of dust of the Local-Loop I bubbles’ interface.

The properties of the Local Bubble, Local Fluff complex of nearby interstellar clouds, and the heliosphere are mutually constrained by data and theory. Observations and models of the diffuse radiation field, interstellar ionization, pickup ion and anomalous cosmic-ray populations, and interstellar dust link the physics of these regions. The differences between the one-asymmetric-superbubble and twosuperbubble views of the Local Bubble are discussed.

We have measured the size and pressure of the Local Bubble in the direction of the constellation Eridanus using ROSAT PSPC observations of soft X-ray “shadows” cast by neutral clouds against the bright X-ray emission from the Orion-Eridanus superbubble. We discuss the technique and present our results for the size of the Local Bubble in the directions of our shadowing fields. Using these distances and the measured soft X-ray emission measures, we derive the Local Bubble’s thermal pressure. For four lines of sight in Eridanus, we obtain pressures of about 1.2 × 104 K cm−3, in good agreement with measurements in several other directions.

We have investigated the distribution of cool gas within the local interstellar medium (<150 pc) using data derived from both the ROSAT X-ray and EUV all-sky surveys. The EUV/X-ray spectra for a sample of 89 white dwarf stars and 200 active late-type stars have been analysed to give an estimate of the gas column density along each object’s line of sight. In order to extend the sky coverage we have also included in the analysis 190 late-type stars detected only in the X-ray band. The derived NHI measurements confirm the size of the local low density bubble as typically 50-100 pc and also show that in the general direction of Loop I there is a substantial excess of absorption at a range of distances from 10-150 pc.

The Local Bubble (LB), a volume of roughly 100 pc radius filled with ionized gas of high temperature and low density, is not a unique object. It is obviously surrounded by several interstellar bubbles of similar properties. Some of them are as close as to undergo interaction with the LB. Our most prominent neighbour is the Loop I superbubble formed by the Sco-Cen OB association. It is shown that this huge shell is in collision with our Local Bubble. The product of this interaction is an annular cloud of dense neutral gas at the boundary between the two bubbles. Other examples for close neighbouring bubbles are the Gum nebula, the Eridanus bubble and possibly the two radio loops II and III.

Computer simulations and laboratory experiments with shock waves are suggested for the study of collisions of bubbles or superbubbles. They describe how the colliding bubbles merge with the formation of an expanding common shell and a complex internal dynamical structure which includes two vortex tori and collimated outflows.

A compilation of data on the volume filling factor fv of the warm ionized medium (WIM) as a function of the local electron density ne indicates that approximately fv ∝ n −1 e over 4 decades. This result is expected for a fractal ISM.

The ionization of the the Local Interstellar Cloud (LIC) is quite unusual compared with most warm (T ~ 104 K) interstellar gas. Hydrogen and helium are both partially ionized with helium surprisingly more ionized than hydrogen. Directly observed ionization sources including nearby stellar EUV sources and the diffuse emission of the Soft X-ray Background (SXRB), do not provide enough ionization and heating to account for both the ionization state and temperature of the LIC. We propose that an evaporative boundary between the LIC and the hot gas of the Local Bubble can provide the necessary ionizing radiation. Results of detailed models of the emission from the interface are presented and shown to be adequate to explain the observations.

We have analyzed the ROSAT PSPC all-sky survey maps of the soft X-ray background (SXRB) in the ¾ keV band. One approach was to study the large-scale distribution of the X-ray emission with a multipole analysis. Here a significant dipole toward the galactic center region was found. This is interpreted in terms of variation of distant X-ray emission, e.g. galactic halo. Also a smallscale structure analysis of the ¾ keV X-ray sky has been performed and a new analytic fluctuation probability distribution has been derived. No significant excess over the expected extragalactic point source contribution has been found. Finally, X-ray colours have been used to investigate spectral variations of the SXRB.

An overlapping set of ROSAT PSPC observations made in a region of very low Galactic foreground column density, has been used to investigate variations in the soft X-ray background on angular scales of 15′ – 5°. In the ¼ keV band there is a clear inverse correlation of the count-rate with the line-of-sight hydrogen column density. However, after correcting for this absorption effect, strong residual fluctuations remain in the data, with an amplitude which is significantly larger than that due to the counting statistics or the confusion of unresolved discrete sources. In contrast a similar analysis for the ¾ and 1.5 keV ROSAT bands shows no evidence for an excess signal. The most likely origin of the ¼ keV fluctuations would seem to be in a patchy distribution of ~ 106 K gas in the Galactic halo.

42 ROSAT PSPC pointed observations in the Galactic plane (l ~ 4° – 26°) are mosaicked in order to study the spatial structure of the X-ray emitting gas in the Local Hot Bubble (LHB). Degree scale X-ray intensity variations are detected at the ±10% level in the ¼ keV band, which imply a likely influence from a clumpy boundary shell of the LHB in the observed ¼ keV band X-ray background. The possible origins of such a clumpy boundary structure of the LHB are discussed.

To determine fluctuations in the ¼ keV emission due to the LHB, without contamination due to sources within the galactic disk, the Galactic halo or the extragalactic background, we have formed a mosaic of PSPC observations towards the Hyades, a direction where distant emission is effectively blocked by a Galactic column of many optical depths. After removing the point sources from this image, we find the ¼ keV emission to be smooth on scales from 6′ to a few degrees.

Soft X-ray background data from the ROSATPSPC have been fitted by a model including emission from the local bubble, embedded hot gas within the disk, hot gas in the Galactic halo and extra-galactic emission, together with local and disk absorption. In all directions a halo component at 106.2 K (0.2 keV) is required for an acceptable fit. The halo emission measure shows spatial variability and the global trend suggests a disk-like planar rather than more extended spherical distribution. New values for the emission measure within the local bubble are derived.

We discuss the link between the halo plasma temperature and the power-law spectral index of the extragalactic background radiation. This link is of strong influence for the derivation of the Galactic halo intensity distribution. In principal, we can distinguish between two combinations of Galactic halo plasma temperature and power-law slope. The first combination consists of a halo plasma of T halo = 106 K and an E −2 approximation of the extragalactic background radiation. The second combination is T halo = 106.2 K and an E −1.5. Both combinations are in agreement with recent observational results, thus it is not feasible to discriminate between both models on the basis of X-ray data available. But, the soft X-ray background intensity distribution in the ¼ keV and ¾ keV ROSAT energy bands differs significantly. The T halo = 106 K and an E −2 allows a patchy ¼ keV intensity distribution while the T halo = 106.2 K and an E −1.5 predicts a much smoother intensity variation since the hotter halo plasma accounts for a significant fraction of the ¾ keV background radiation.