No Arabic abstract
The Cygnus-X star-forming complex is one of the most active regions of low and high mass star formation within 2 kpc of the Sun. Using mid-infrared photometry from the IRAC and MIPS Spitzer Cygnus-X Legacy Survey, we have identified over 1800 protostar candidates. We compare the protostellar luminosity functions of two regions within Cygnus-X: CygX-South and CygX-North. These two clouds show distinctly different morphologies suggestive of dissimilar star-forming environments. We find the luminosity functions of these two regions are statistically different. Furthermore, we compare the luminosity functions of protostars found in regions of high and low stellar density within Cygnus-X and find that the luminosity function in regions of high stellar density is biased to higher luminosities. In total, these observations provide further evidence that the luminosities of protostars depend on their natal environment. We discuss the implications this dependence has for the star formation process.
The giant HII region W31 hosts the populous star cluster W31-CL and others projected on or in the surroundings. The most intriguing object is the stellar cluster SGR1806-20, which appears to be related to a Luminous Blue Variable (LBV) - a luminous supergiant star. We used the deep VVV J-,H-and K$_s$-bands photometry combined with 2MASS data in order to address the distance andother physical and structural properties of the clusters W31-CL, BDS 113 and SGR1806-20. Field-decontaminated photometry was used to analyse colour-magnitude diagrams and stellar radial density profiles, using procedures that our group has developed and employed in previous studies. We concludethat the clusters W31-CL and BDS113 are located at 4.5kpc and 4.8kpc and have ages of 0.5Myr and 1Myr, respectively. This result, together with the pre-main sequence (PMS) distribution in the colour-magnitude diagram, characterises them as members of the W31 complex. The present photometry detects the stellar content, addressed in previous spectroscopic classifications, in the direction of thecluster SGR1806-20, including the LBV, WRs, and foreground stars. We derive an age of 10$pm$4Myr and a distance of d=8.0$pm$1.95kpc. The cluster is extremely absorbed, with AV= 25mag. Thepresent results indicate that SGR1806-20 is more distant by a factor 1.8 with respect to the W31 complex, and thus not physically related to it.
Cygnus OB2 provides a unique insight into the high-mass stellar content in one of the largest groups of young massive stars in our Galaxy. Although several studies of its massive population have been carried out over the last decades, an extensive spectroscopic study of the whole known O-star population in the association is still lacking. In this work, we created the most complete spectroscopic census of O stars carried out so far in Cygnus OB2 using already existing and new spectroscopy. We present the spectra for 78 O-type stars, from which we identify new binary systems, obtain the distribution of rotational velocities, and determine the main stellar parameters for all the stars in the region that have not been detected as double-line spectroscopic binaries. We also derive radii, luminosities, and masses for those stars with reliable Gaia astrometry, in addition to creating the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram to interpret the evolutionary status of the association. This work has shown the improvement reached when using accurate spectroscopic parameters and astrometry for the interpretation of the evolutionary status of a population, revealing, in the case of Cygnus OB2, at least two star-forming bursts at $sim$3 and $sim$5 Myr. We find an apparent deficit of very fast rotators in the distribution of rotational velocities. The inspection of the dynamical distribution of the sample has allowed us to identify nine O stars with peculiar proper motions and discuss a possible dynamical ejection scenario or past supernova explosions in the region.
Whether the Cygnus X complex consists of one physically connected region of star formation or of multiple independent regions projected close together on the sky has been debated for decades. The main reason for this puzzling scenario is the lack of trustworthy distance measurements. We aim to understand the structure and dynamics of the star-forming regions toward Cygnus X by accurate distance and proper motion measurements. To measure trigonometric parallaxes, we observed 6.7 GHz methanol and 22 GHz water masers with the European VLBI Network and the Very Long Baseline Array. We measured the trigonometric parallaxes and proper motions of five massive star-forming regions toward the Cygnus X complex and report the following distances within a 10% accuracy: 1.30+-0.07 kpc for W 75N, 1.46^{+0.09}_{-0.08} kpc for DR 20, 1.50^{+0.08}_{-0.07} kpc for DR 21, 1.36^{+0.12}_{-0.11} kpc for IRAS20290+4052, and 3.33+-0.11kpc for AFGL 2591. While the distances of W 75N, DR 20, DR 21, and IRAS 20290+4052 are consistent with a single distance of 1.40+-0.08 kpc for the Cygnus X complex, AFGL 2591 is located at a much greater distance than previously assumed. The space velocities of the four star-forming regions in the Cygnus X complex do not suggest an expanding Stroemgren sphere.
We observed three high-mass star-forming regions in the W3 high-mass star formation complex with the Submillimeter Array and IRAM 30 m telescope. These regions, i.e. W3 SMS1 (W3 IRS5), SMS2 (W3 IRS4) and SMS3, are in different evolutionary stages and are located within the same large-scale environment, which allows us to study rotation and outflows as well as chemical properties in an evolutionary sense. While we find multiple mm continuum sources toward all regions, these three sub-regions exhibit different dynamical and chemical properties, which indicates that they are in different evolutionary stages. Even within each subregion, massive cores of different ages are found, e.g. in SMS2, sub-sources from the most evolved UCHII region to potential starless cores exist within 30 000 AU of each other. Outflows and rotational structures are found in SMS1 and SMS2. Evidence for interactions between the molecular cloud and the HII regions is found in the 13CO channel maps, which may indicate triggered star formation.
We present an analysis of spectrosopic and astrometric data from APOGEE-2 and Gaia DR2 to identify structures towards the Orion Complex. By applying a hierarchical clustering algorithm to the 6-dimensional stellar data, we identify spatially and/or kinematically distinct groups of young stellar objects with ages ranging from 1 to 12 Myr. We also investigate the star forming history within the Orion Complex, and identify peculiar sub-clusters. With this method we reconstruct the older populations in the regions that are presently largely devoid of molecular gas, such as Orion C (which includes the $sigma$ Ori cluster), and Orion D (the population that traces Ori OB1a, OB1b, and Orion X). We report on the distances, kinematics, and ages of the groups within the Complex. The Orion D groups is in the process of expanding. On the other hand, Orion B is still in the process of contraction. In $lambda$ Ori the proper motions are consistent with a radial expansion due to an explosion from a supernova; the traceback age from the expansion exceeds the age of the youngest stars formed near the outer edges of the region, and their formation would have been triggered when they were half-way from the cluster center to their current positions. We also present a comparison between the parallax and proper motion solutions obtained by Gaia DR2, and those obtained towards star-forming regions by Very Long Baseline Array.