Keele Research Repository

We present a new high signal-to-noise ratio spectroscopic survey of the Northern hemisphere to probe the Local Bubble and its surroundings using the λ5780 Å and λ5797 Å diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs). We observed 432 sightlines to a distance of 200 pc over a duration of three years. In this study, we establish the λ5780 and λ5797 correlations with Na I, Ca II and E B-V, for both inside and outside the Local Bubble. The correlations show that among all neutral and ionized atoms, the correlation between Ca II and λ5780 is stronger than its correlation with λ5797, suggesting that λ5780 is more associated with regions where Ca+ is more abundant. We study the λ5780 correlation with λ5797, which shows a tight correlation within and outside the Local Bubble. In addition, we investigate the DIB properties in UV irradiated and UV shielded regions. We find that, within and beyond the Local Bubble, λ5797 is located in denser parts of clouds, protected from UV irradiation, while λ5780 is located in the low-density regions of clouds.