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    The spatial structure of young stellar clusters. I. Subclusters

    Access Status
    Open access via publisher
    Authors
    Kuhn, M.
    Feigelson, E.
    Getman, K.
    Baddeley, Adrian
    Broos, P.
    Sills, A.
    Bate, M.
    Povich, M.
    Luhman, K.
    Busk, H.
    Naylor, T.
    King, R.
    Date
    2014
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
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    Citation
    Kuhn, M. and Feigelson, E. and Getman, K. and Baddeley, A. and Broos, P. and Sills, A. and Bate, M. et al. 2014. The spatial structure of young stellar clusters. I. Subclusters. The Astrophysical Journal. 787.
    Source Title
    The Astrophysical Journal
    DOI
    10.1088/0004-637X/787/2/107
    ISSN
    0004-637X
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/12209
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    The clusters of young stars in massive star-forming regions show a wide range of sizes, morphologies, and numbers of stars. Their highly subclustered structures are revealed by the MYStIX project’s sample of 31,754 young stars in nearby sites of star formation (regions at distances <3.6 kpc that contain at least one O-type star.) In 17 of the regions surveyed by MYStIX, we identify subclusters of young stars using finite mixture models—collections of isothermal ellipsoids that model individual subclusters. Maximum likelihood estimation is used to estimate the model parameters, and the Akaike Information Criterion is used to determine the number of subclusters. This procedure often successfully finds famous subclusters, such as the BN/KL complex behind the Orion Nebula Cluster and the KW-object complex in M 17. A catalog of 142 subclusters is presented, with 1–20 subclusters per region. The subcluster core radius distribution for this sample is peaked at 0.17 pc with a standard deviation of0.43 dex, and subcluster core radius is negatively correlated with gas/dust absorption of the stars—a possible age effect. Based on the morphological arrangements of subclusters, we identify four classes of spatial structure: long chains of subclusters, clumpy structures, isolated clusters with a core–halo structure, and isolated clusters well fit by a single isothermal ellipsoid.

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