We have selected red MSX sources (RMS) that have the colours of massive young
stellar objects (MYSOs). Our aim is to generate a large, systematically
selected sample to address questions such as their luminosity function,
lifetimes, clustering and triggering. Other objects such as UCHIIs, PN, PPN and
AGB stars have similar IR colours and a large programme of ground-based
follow-up observations is underway to identify and eliminate these from the
sample of the red MSX sources. These include radio continuum observations,
kinematic distances, ground-based mid-IR imaging, near-IR imaging and
spectroscopy to distinguish. We report the progress of these campaigns on the
3000 candidates, with initial indications showing that a substantial fraction
are indeed massive YSOs.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figures Talk in conference: Milky Way surveys, the
structure and evolution of our Galaxy, Boston 200
