Chandra Study of the Cepheus B Star Forming Region: Stellar Populations and the Initial Mass Function

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

72 pages, 31 figures, 8 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Scientific paper

10.1086/501453

Cepheus B (Cep B) molecular cloud and a portion of the nearby Cep OB3b OB association, one of the most active regions of star formation within 1 kpc, has been observed with the ACIS detector on board the Chandra X-ray Observatory. We detect 431 X-ray sources, of which 89% are confidently identified as clustered pre-main sequence stars. Two main results are obtained. First, we provide the best census to date for the stellar population of the region. We identify many members of two rich stellar clusters: the lightly obscured Cep OB3b association, and the deeply embedded cluster in Cep B whose existence was previously traced only by a handful of radio sources and T Tauri stars. Second, we find a discrepancy between the X-ray Luminosity Functions of the Cep OB3b and the Orion Nebula Cluster. This may be due to different Initial Mass Functions of two regions (excess of ~0.3 solar mass stars), or different age distributions. Several other results are obtained. A diffuse X-ray component seen in the field is attributed to the integrated emission of unresolved low mass PMS stars. The X-ray emission from HD 217086 (O7n), the principle ionizing source of the region, follows the standard model involving many small shocks in an unmagnetized radiatively accelerated wind. The X-ray source #294 joins a number of similar superflare PMS stars where long magnetic structures may connect the protoplanetary disk to the stellar surface.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Chandra Study of the Cepheus B Star Forming Region: Stellar Populations and the Initial Mass Function does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Chandra Study of the Cepheus B Star Forming Region: Stellar Populations and the Initial Mass Function, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Chandra Study of the Cepheus B Star Forming Region: Stellar Populations and the Initial Mass Function will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-448968

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.