A Reexamination of Galactic OB Associations

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Scientific paper

The stellar population (IMF) and spatial size of massive star forming regions are important parameters for modeling the formation of massive stars, galactic chemical evolution, and potentially the distance scale of the universe. However, these quantities are not as well known as one might hope. Hodge (1986) has pointed out that the differing sizes of OB associations in nearby galaxies, as reported in the literature, could in some cases be explained by the observing material and selection criteria used. In our galaxy the situation is not much better, as anyone who has tried to find published members of given OB associations can attest. Only the closest have been studied using astrometric, spectroscopic and photometric criteria. This will improve with the publication of the HIPPARCOS data. But the stellar content of associations beyond about 1 kpc needs improvement. I have approached the problem by compiling a dataset of almost 10,000 galactic OB stars having UBV data and spectral types in the literature. I then compute individual stellar distances from these data to see if classically defined OB associations are recovered. While the 'finger of God" effect is a problem, there are some interesting realignments in association membership suggested by this technique.

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

A Reexamination of Galactic OB Associations 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 A Reexamination of Galactic OB Associations, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and A Reexamination of Galactic OB Associations will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-830800

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