New surveys of UBV photometry and absolute proper motions at intermediate latitude

A photometric and proper motion survey has been obtained in 2 directions at intermediate latitude: ($l=167.5^\circ$, $b=47.4^\circ$; $\alpha_{2000}=9^h41^m26^s$,$\delta_{2000}=+49^\circ53'27''$) and ($l=278^\circ$, $b=47^\circ$; $\alpha_{2000}=11^h42^m56^s$, $\delta_{2000}=-12^\circ31'42''$). The survey covers 7.13 and 20.84 square degrees, respectively. The limiting magnitude is about 18.5 in V for both directions. We have derived the density laws for stars (M$_{V}$ $\ge$ 3.5) as a function of distance from the galactic plane. The density laws for stars follow a sum of two exponentials with scale heights of 240 pc (thin disk) and 790 pc (thick disk), respectively. The local density of thick disk is found to be 6.1$\pm$3 % relative to the thin disk. The kinematical distribution of stars has been probed to distances up to 3.5 kpc above the galactic plane. New estimates of the parameters of velocity ellipsoid have been derived for the thick disk of the Galaxy. A comparison of our data sets with the Besan\c con model star count predictions has been performed, giving a good agreement in the magnitude range V = 13 to 18.Comment: 13 pages, 8 PS figures, To appear in A&

On the shell star pleione (BU Tauri)

BU Tauri (Pleione) an interesting star in the Pleiades cluster, has been observed spectrophotometrically. The energy distribution curves of the star have been discussed vis a vis model atmospheres for normal stars in the appropriate range of temperature and effective gravity. The changes in the energy distribution curve noticed during our observations and previous observations taken from the literature have been pointed out. On the basis of the measured Há emission equivalent width, a rough estimate of the dimensions of the extended envelope of the star has been made

The ionizing sources of luminous compact HII regions in the RCW106 and RCW122 clouds

Given the rarity of young O star candidates, compact HII regions embedded in dense molecular cores continue to serve as potential sites to peer into the details of high-mass star formation. To uncover the ionizing sources of the most luminous and compact HII regions embedded in the RCW106 and RCW122 giant molecular clouds, known to be relatively nearby (2-4 kpc) and isolated, thus providing an opportunity to examine spatial scales of a few hundred to a thousand AU in size. High spatial resolution (0.3"), mid-infrared spectra (R=350), including the fine structure lines [ArIII] and [NeII], were obtained for four luminous compact HII regions, embedded inside the dense cores within the RCW106 and RCW122 molecular cloud complexes. At this resolution, these targets reveal point-like sources surrounded by nebulosity of different morphologies, uncovering details at spatial dimensions of <1000AU. The point-like sources display [ArIII] and [NeII] lines - the ratios of which are used to estimate the temperature of the embedded sources. The derived temperatures are indicative of mid-late O type objects for all the sources with [ArIII] emission. Previously known characteristics of these targets from the literature, including evidence of disk or accretion suggest that the identified sources may grow more to become early-type O stars by the end of the star formation process

Star formation activity in the Galactic H II region Sh2-297

We present a multiwavelength study of the Galactic H II region Sh2-297, located in Canis Major OB1 complex. Optical spectroscopic observations are used to constrain the spectral type of ionizing star HD 53623 as B0V. The classical nature of this H II region is affirmed by the low values of electron density and emission measure, which are calculated to be 756 cm^-3 and 9.15 x 10^5 cm^-6 pc using the radio continuum observations at 610 and 1280 MHz, and VLA archival data at 1420 MHz. To understand local star formation, we identified the young stellar object (YSO) candidates in a region of area ~ 7.5' x 7.5' centered on Sh2-297 using grism slitless spectroscopy (to identify the Halpha emission line stars), and near infrared (NIR) observations. NIR YSO candidates are further classified into various evolutionary stages using color-color (CC) and color-magnitude (CM) diagrams, giving 50 red sources (H-K > 0.6) and 26 Class II-like sources. The mass and age range of the YSOs are estimated to be ~ 0.1 - 2 Msolar and 0.5 - 2 Myr using optical (V/V-I) and NIR (J/J-H) CM diagrams. The mean age of the YSOs is found to be ~ 1 Myr, which is of the order of dynamical age of 1.07 Myr of the H II region. Using the estimated range of visual extinction (1.1 - 25 mag) from literature and NIR data for the region, spectral energy distribution (SED) models have been implemented for selected YSOs which show masses and ages to be consistent with estimated values. The spatial distribution of YSOs shows an evolutionary sequence, suggesting triggered star formation in the region. The star formation seems to have propagated from the ionizing star towards the cold dark cloud LDN1657A located west of Sh2-297.Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Young Stellar Population of the Bright-Rimmed Clouds BRC 5, BRC 7 and BRC 39

Bright-rimmed clouds (BRCs), illuminated and shaped by nearby OB stars, are potential sites of recent/ongoing star formation. Here we present an optical and infrared photometric study of three BRCs: BRC 5, BRC 7 and BRC 39 to obtain a census of the young stellar population, thereby inferring the star formation scenario, in these regions. In each BRC, the Class I sources are found to be located mostly near the bright rim or inside the cloud, whereas the Class II sources are preferentially outside, with younger sources closer to the rim. This provides strong support to sequential star formation triggered by radiation driven implosion due to the UV radiation. Moreover, each BRC contains a small group of young stars being revealed at its head, as the next-generation stars. In particular, the young stars at the heads of BRC 5 and BRC 7 are found to be intermediate/high mass stars, which, under proper conditions, may themselves trigger further star birth, thereby propagating star formation out to long distances.Comment: 30 pages, 7 Figures, 6 Tables, accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ

Multiwavelength Study of NGC 281 Region

We present a multiwavelength study of the NGC 281 complex which contains the young cluster IC 1590 at the center, using deep wide-field optical UBVI_c photometry, slitless spectroscopy along with archival data sets in the near-infrared (NIR) and X-ray. The extent of IC 1590 is estimated to be ~6.5 pc. The cluster region shows a relatively small amount of differential reddening. The majority of the identified young stellar objects (YSOs) are low mass PMS stars having age <1-2 Myr and mass 0.5-3.5 M_\odot. The slope (\Gamma) of the mass function for IC 1590, in the mass range 2 < M/M_\odot \le 54, is found to be -1.11+-0.15. The slope of the K-band luminosity function (0.37+-0.07) is similar to the average value (~0.4) reported for young clusters. The distribution of gas and dust obtained from the IRAS, CO and radio maps indicates clumpy structures around the central cluster. The radial distribution of the young stellar objects, their ages, \Delta(H-K) NIR-excess, and the fraction of classical T Tauri stars suggest triggered star formation at the periphery of the cluster region. However, deeper optical, NIR and MIR observations are needed to have a conclusive view of star formation scenario in the region. The properties of the Class 0/I and Class II sources detected by using the Spitzer mid-infrared observations indicate that a majority of the Class II sources are X-ray emitting stars, whereas X-ray emission is absent from the Class 0/I sources. The spatial distribution of Class 0/I and Class II sources reveals the presence of three sub-clusters in the NGC 281 West region.Comment: 29 pages, 21 figures and 11 tables, Accepted for the publication in PAS

Optical and Near-infrared survey of the stellar contents associated with the star-forming Complex Sh2-252

We present the analyses of the stellar contents associated with the HII region Sh2-252 using UBVRI photometry, slit and slitless spectroscopy along with the NIR data from 2MASS for an area ~1 degree x 1 degree. We studied the sub-regions of Sh2-252 which includes four compact-HII (CHII) regions, namely A, B, C and E and two clusters NGC 2175s and Teutsch 136 (Teu 136). Of the fifteen spectroscopically observed bright stars, eight have been identified as massive members of spectral class earlier than B3. From the spectro-photometric analyses, we derived the average distance of the region as 2.4+/-0.2 kpc and the reddening of the massive members is found to vary between 0.35 to 2.1 mag. We found that NGC 2175s and Teu 136, located towards the eastern edge of the complex are the sub-clusters of Sh2-252. The stellar surface density distribution in K-band shows clustering associated with the regions A, C, E, NGC 2175s and Teu 136. We have also identified the candidate ionizing sources of the CHII regions. 61 H_alpha emission sources are identified using slitless spectroscopy. The distribution of the H_alpha emission sources and candidate YSOs with IR excess on the V/(V-I) CMD shows that a majority of them have approximate ages between 0.1 - 5 Myr and masses in the range of 0.3 - 2.5 M_sun. The CMDs of the candidate YSOs in the individual regions also show an age spread of 0.1 - 5 Myr for each of them. We calculated the KLFs for the sub-regions A, C, E, NGC 2175s and Teu 136. Within errors, the KLFs for all the sub-regions are found to be similar and comparable to that of young clusters of age < 5 Myr. We also estimated the mass functions (MFs) of the PMS sample of the individual regions in the mass range of 0.3 - 2.5 M_sun. In general, the slopes of the MFs of all the sub-regions are found comparable to the Salpeter value.Comment: published in MNRA