| Supernova remnants and superbubbles, huge expanding shells produced by the combined winds and supernovae from OB associations, have a profound effect on the structure of the interstellar medium. In addition, they may be important factors in the initiation of star formation in molecular clouds, as well as in the formation of the molecular clouds themselves. This thesis describes my work studying the infrared emission from supernova remnants and superbubbles using data from the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) and modelling the growth of superbubbles.; In the study of Galactic supernova remnants, I have improved on previous efforts by using ratios of the 60 and 100 {dollar}mu{dollar}m IRAS images to discriminate remnant emission from background or foreground features based on their color temperatures. I have also used a two-temperature component model for the dust emission, as opposed to relying on the color temperatures alone, to determine the remnant masses and IR luminosities. This leads, in general, to lower estimated dust masses since some of the IR emission is contributed by small, hot grains.; Previous dynamical models of supershells used a constant rate of energy input. The results from a supershell surrounding the Cyg OB1 association suggest that it is important to consider the time history of the input energy from hot star winds and supernovae, possibly including non-coeval star formation, when modelling the shell's growth. These effects may lead to a significant error in attempts to age-date a shell based on the standard constant rate. |
