Variable Protostars and the Orion-Eridanus Superbubble

Abstract: The majority of observed protostars have considerably lower luminosities than predicted by models with steady accretion flows. One possible solution to this luminosity problem that has been proposed is episodic accretion, in which protostars gain the majority of their mass in short bursts of rapid accretion. I will present the details of the JCMT Legacy Survey: A Transient Search for Variable Protostars, a three year project to detect and characterize changes in the luminosity of deeply embedded protostars. I will discuss the survey setup as well as present results on the first variable protostar detected by the survey. The Orion-Eridanus superbubble has been created by the nearest active high mass star forming region. Due to the proximity and complexity of the region, there has been much debate in the literature regarding which observed features are associated with the superbubble’s wall. I will present Planck polarization data of the superbubble in which the outer wall of the superbubble can be unambiguously identified.