Optical Photometric Survey of the Young Stars Associated with the W3 Star-forming Region

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

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Scientific paper

We present preliminary analyses of the (V-I)/Mv color-magnitude diagram for the young, lightly-obscured, stellar population associated with the W3 star-forming region. The W3 region is thought to have experienced triggered star formation and hence is an ideal target to study environmental effects on circumstellar disk properties and the Initial Mass Function. Observations were obtained in the V- and I- bands over an area of 1° x 30' using the prime focus CCD imager (90Prime) on the 2.3m Bok telescope at Kitt Peak, Arizona. We identified candidate pre-main-sequence stars in this region using Chandra X-ray data and Spitzer IRAC observations, selecting those with detectable X-ray emission and/or IR excess emission as probable young stars. 90% of these pre-main-sequence candidates appear on and above the 2 Myr isochrone in the color-magnitude diagram indicating their youth. At a distance of 2.0 kpc, Av of 2.7 mag, and assuming an age of <=2 Myr, our limit of mV < 22m enables us to identify the majority of candidates, whose IRAC colors indicate they are Class I/II young stellar objects, as low mass young stars (< 1 Msun). However, our preliminary analysis does not show any significant evidence of age sequence between W3-main, W3-North and W3-OH regions. Optical spectroscopy is required to help confirm candidate pre-main sequence stars in this region, enabling us to estimate masses and ages, as well as aid in identifying circumstellar disks.

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