The Large-Scale Distribution and Motions of Older Stars in Orion

We review the current knowledge of the population of `older' stars in the Orion OB1 association, specifically those in subgroups 1a and 1b. We briefly outline the history of the subject and then continue with a summary of the present state of knowledge of the early-type stars in Orion OB1. New results from the Hipparcos parallaxes and proper motions will be presented. The main result is that subgroup 1a is located at about 330 pc from the Sun, much closer than the previously determined distance, and about 100 pc distant from the other subgroups of the association and the Orion molecular clouds. Unfortunately, due to the unfavorable kinematics of the association with respect to the Galactic background, Hipparcos proper motions do not allow a clear kinematic separation of the association from the field. For this purpose accurate and homogeneous radial velocities are needed. Traditionally, the massive O and B stars have received most of the attention in the studies of OB associations. However, we will present results showing that significant numbers of low-mass stars are associated with Orion OB1. Unbiased, optically complete, spectroscopic and photometric surveys of areas within subgroups 1a and 1b have the potential to determine the complete low-mass stellar population, down to the brown dwarf limit. This will provide much insight into the overall initial mass function and studies of the kinematics of the low-mass stars will yield insights into the dispersal of the association.Comment: To appear in The Orion Complex Revisited, eds. M. J. McCaughrean & A. Burkert (San Francisco, ASP), gzipped tar-file, 22 pages 7 EPS-figures, LaTeX using paspconf.sty and psfig.tex. Wrongly quoted errors on the average parallaxes of the Orion OB1 subgroups were corrected (Section 4

A study of the scorpio-centaurus cluster

In the year 1914 Kapteyn published a detailed study of the proper motions of the bright southern B stars and showed that the majority of these stars form an extended moving cluster, called the Scorpio-Centaurus cluster after the constellations which contain its most conspicuous part. The increasing amount and accuracy of the observational material of radial velocities and proper motions has led to many new investigations. Nevertheless we do not yet possess a satisfactory picture of the structure and the motion of the cluster. ... Zie: Summary

OB associations from Hipparcos

VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Astronomical Journal (AAS) with title 'A Hipparcos census of the nearby OB associations.' (bibcode: 1999AJ....117..354D

My cruise through the world of astronomy

I was born in 1914 in Amsterdam. I grew up there, filling my teenage years with activities as an amateur astronomer. I later studied at Leiden University and volunteered at Leiden Observatory. From 1938 to 1945, I was assistant at the Kapteyn Institute in Groningen, including during the war years 1940–1945, returning to Leiden in October 1945. After prolonged stays at Yerkes Observatory in 1947–1948 and 1952, and participation in Leiden's astrometric Kenya expedition in 1949–1950, I became associate professor at Yerkes Observatory in the fall of 1953. In 1957, I returned to the Kapteyn Institute and soon became involved in the creation of ESO, of which I became scientific director in 1968 and director general from 1970 to 1974. In 1975, I joined Leiden Observatory again, staying until my retirement in 1981, and since then I have enjoyed the hospitality of the Kapteyn Institute. I was president of the IAU from 1976 to 1979. From 1982 to 1989, I was chairman of the Scientific Programs Selection Committee for the European Space Agency's satellite, Hipparcos. My principal research interests have been in galactic structure and star formation, with emphasis on stellar associations. In addition to my astronomical interests, I have researched and published on Dutch village history