Diagnosing the Stellar Population and Tidal Structure of the Blanco1 Star Cluster

We present the stellar population, using {it Gaia},DR2 parallax, kinematics, and photometry, of the young ($sim 100$~Myr), nearby ($sim 230$~pc) open cluster, Blanco1. A total of 644 member candidates are identified via the unsupervised machine learning method textsc{StarGO} to find the clustering in the 5-dimensional position and proper motion parameter ($X$, $Y$, $Z$, $mu_alpha cosdelta$, $mu_delta$) space. Within the tidal radius of $10.0 pm 0.3$~pc, there are 488 member candidates, 3 times more than those outside. A leading tail and a trailing tail, each of 50--60~pc in the Galactic plane, are found for the first time for this cluster, with stars further from the cluster center streaming away faster, manifest stellar stripping. Blanco1 has a total detected mass of $285pm32$~M$_odot $ with a mass function consistent with a slope of $alpha=1.35pm0.2$ in the sense of $dN/dm propto m^{-alpha}$, in the mass range of 0.25--2.51~M$_odot $, where $N$ is the number of members and $m$ is stellar mass. A Minimum Spanning Tree ($Lambda_{rm MSR}$) analysis shows the cluster to be moderately mass segregated among the most massive members ($gtrsim 1.4$~M$_odot$), suggesting an early stage of dynamical disintegration.

The Young Stellar Population of the metal-poor galaxy NGC 6822

We present a comprehensive study of massive young stellar objects (YSOs) in the metal-poor galaxy NGC 6822 using IRAC and MIPS data obtained from the {em Spitzer Space Telescope}. We find over 500 new YSO candidates in seven massive star-formation regions; these sources were selected using six colour-magnitude cuts. Via spectral energy distribution fitting to the data with YSO radiative transfer models we refine this list, identifying 105 high-confidence and 88 medium-confidence YSO candidates. For these sources we constrain their evolutionary state and estimate their physical properties. The majority of our YSO candidates are massive protostars with an accreting envelope in the initial stages of formation. We fit the mass distribution of the Stage I YSOs with a Kroupa initial mass function and determine a global star-formation rate of 0.039 $M_{odot} yr^{-1}$. This is higher than star-formation rate estimates based on integrated UV fluxes. The new YSO candidates are preferentially located in clusters which correspond to seven active high-mass star-formation regions which are strongly correlated with the 8 and 24 $mu$m emission from PAHs and warm dust. This analysis reveals an embedded high-mass star-formation region, Spitzer I, which hosts the highest number of massive YSO candidates in NGC 6822. The properties of Spitzer I suggest it is younger and more active than the other prominent H,{sc ii} and star-formation regions in the galaxy.

A Chandra Study of the Rosette Star-Forming Complex. I. The Stellar Population and Structure of the Young Open Cluster NGC 2244

We present the first high spatial resolution Chandra X-ray study of NGC 2244, the 2 Myr old stellar cluster immersed in the Rosette Nebula. Over 900 X-ray sources are detected; 77% have optical or FLAMINGOS near-infrared (NIR) stellar counterparts and are mostly previously uncatalogued young stellar cluster members. All known OB stars with spectral type earlier than B1 are detected and the X-ray selected stellar population is estimated to be nearly complete between 0.5 and 3 Msun. The X-ray luminosity function (XLF) ranges from 29.4<logLx<32 ergs/s in the hard (2-8keV) band. By comparing the NGC 2244 and Orion Nebula Cluster XLFs, we estimate a total population of 2000 stars in NGC 2244. A number of further results emerge from our analysis: The XLF and the associated K-band luminosity function indicate a normal Salpeter initial mass function (IMF) for NGC 2244. This is inconsistent with the top-heavy IMF reported from earlier optical studies that lacked a good census of <4Msun stars. The spatial distribution of X-ray stars is strongly concentrated around the central O5 star, HD 46150. The other early O star, HD 46223, has few companions. The clusters stellar radial density profile shows two distinctive structures. This double structure, combined with the absence of mass segregation, indicates that this cluster is not in dynamical equilibrium. The spatial distribution of X-ray selected K-excess disk stars and embedded stars is asymmetric with an apparent deficit towards the north. The fraction of X-ray-selected cluster members with K-band excesses caused by inner protoplanetary disks is 6%, slightly lower than the 10% disk fraction estimated from the FLAMINGOS study based on the NIR-selected sample. This is due to the high efficiency of X-ray surveys in locating disk-free T Tauri stars.[Abridged]

The observed multiplicity properties of B-type stars in the Galactic young open cluster NGC 6231

It is well known that massive O-stars are frequently (if not always) found in binary or higher-order multiple systems, but this fact has been less robustly investigated for the lower mass range of the massive stars, represented by the B-type stars. Obtaining the binary fraction and orbital parameter distributions of B-type stars is crucial to understand the impact of multiplicity on the archetypal progenitor of core-collapse supernovae as well as to properly investigate formation channels for gravitational wave progenitors. This work aims to characterise the multiplicity of the B-star population of the young open cluster NGC 6231 through multi-epoch optical spectroscopy of 80 B-type stars. We analyse 31 FLAMES/GIRAFFE observations of 80 B-type stars, monitoring their radial velocities (RVs) and performing a least-squares spectral analysis (Lomb-Scargle) to search for periodicity in those stars with statistically significant variability in their RVs. We constrain an observed spectroscopic binary fraction of $33pm5$% for the B-type stars of NGC 6231, with a first order bias-correction giving a true spectroscopic binary fraction of $52pm8$%. Out of 27 B-type binary candidates, we obtained orbital solutions for 20 systems: 15 single-lined (SB1) and 5 double-lined spectroscopic binaries (SB2s). We present these orbital solutions and the orbital parameter distributions associated with them. Our results indicate that Galactic B-type stars are less frequently found in binary systems than their more massive O-type counterparts, but their orbital properties generally resemble those of B- and O-type stars in both the Galaxy and Large Magellanic Cloud.

The Young Star Cluster population of M51 with LEGUS: I. A comprehensive study of cluster formation and evolution

Recently acquired WFC3 UV (F275W and F336W) imaging mosaics under the Legacy Extragalactic UV Survey (LEGUS) combined with archival ACS data of M51 are used to study the young star cluster (YSC) population of this interacting system. Our newly extracted source catalogue contains 2834 cluster candidates, morphologically classified to be compact and uniform in colour, for which ages, masses and extinction are derived. In this first work we study the main properties of the YSC population of the whole galaxy, considering a mass-limited sample. Both luminosity and mass functions follow a power law shape with slope -2, but at high luminosities and masses a dearth of sources is observed. The analysis of the mass function suggests that it is best fitted by a Schechter function with slope -2 and a truncation mass at $1.00pm0.12times10^5 M_odot$. Through Monte Carlo simulations we confirm this result and link the shape of the luminosity function to the presence of a truncation in the mass function. A mass limited age function analysis, between 10 and 200 Myr, suggests that the cluster population is undergoing only moderate disruption. We observe little variation in the shape of the mass function at masses above $1times10^4 M_odot$, over this age range. The fraction of star formation happening in the form of bound clusters in M51 is $sim20%$ in the age range 10 to 100 Myr and little variation is observed over the whole range from 1 to 200 Myr.