ubvy{beta} photometry in the Lupus dark cloud

The colour excess versus distance diagram confirms the existence of a region depleted from interstellar material, which is also seen in the ROSAT soft X-ray background emission map. The distance to the surrounding material is estimated as being within the interval from 60 to 100pc.

This result is in disagreement with previous distance estimates to the supposed supernova that has been suggested as responsible for clearing the region from dust. As an alternative, the data presented support the suggestion that the void may have been produced by the detachment of material from the interface between LoopI and the Local Bubble as a consequence of hydromagnetic instabilities. Moreover, the distribution of colour excess as a function of distance supports a value of ~150pc as the most probable distance to the dark cloud known as Lupus1.