Arcuate infrared nebulae are ubiquitous throughout the Galactic Plane and are candidates for partial shells , bubbles , or bowshocks produced by massive runaway stars .
We tabulate infrared photometry for 709 such objects using images from the Spitzer Space Telescope ( SST ) , Wide-Field Infrared Explorer ( WISE ) , and Herschel Space Observatory ( HSO ) .
Of the 709 objects identified at 24 or 22 \mu m , 422 are detected at the HSO 70 \mu m bandpass .
Of these , only 39 are detected at HSO 160 \mu m. The 70 \mu m peak surface brightnesses are 0.5—2.5 Jy arcmin ^ { -2 } .
Color temperatures calculated from the 24 \mu m to 70 \mu m ratios range from 80 K to 400 K. Color temperatures from 70 \mu m to 160 \mu m ratios are systematically lower , 40 K to 200 K. Both of these temperature are , on average , 75 % higher than the nominal temperatures derived by assuming that dust is in steady-state radiative equilibrium .
This may be evidence of stellar wind bowshocks sweeping up and heating — possibly fragmenting but not destroying — interstellar dust .
Infrared luminosity correlates with standoff distance , R _ { 0 } , as predicted by published hydrodynamical models .
Infrared spectral energy distributions are consistent with interstellar dust exposed to a either single radiant energy density , U = 10 ^ { 3 } — 10 ^ { 5 } ( in more than half of the objects ) or a range of radiant energy densities U _ { min } =25 to U _ { max } =10 ^ { 3 } —10 ^ { 5 } times the mean interstellar value for the remainder .
Hence , the central OB stars dominate the energetics , making these enticing laboratories for testing dust models in constrained radiation environments .
SEDs are consistent with PAH fractions q _ { PAH } \lesssim 1 % in most objects .