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Title: YOUNG STELLAR POPULATIONS IN MYStIX STAR-FORMING REGIONS: CANDIDATE PROTOSTARS

Journal Article · · Astrophysical Journal
; ;  [1];  [2]
  1. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, 525 Davey Lab, University Park, PA 16802 (United States)
  2. Millennium Institute of Astrophysics, Camino El Observatorio 1515, Las Condes, Santiago (Chile)

The Massive Young Star-Forming Complex in Infrared and X-ray (MYStIX) project provides a new census on stellar members of massive star-forming regions within 4 kpc. Here the MYStIX Infrared Excess catalog and Chandra -based X-ray photometric catalogs are mined to obtain high-quality samples of Class I protostars using criteria designed to reduce extragalactic and Galactic field star contamination. A total of 1109 MYStIX Candidate Protostars (MCPs) are found in 14 star-forming regions. Most are selected from protoplanetary disk infrared excess emission, but 20% are found from their ultrahard X-ray spectra from heavily absorbed magnetospheric flare emission. Two-thirds of the MCP sample is newly reported here. The resulting samples are strongly spatially associated with molecular cores and filaments on Herschel far-infrared maps. This spatial agreement and other evidence indicate that the MCP sample has high reliability with relatively few “false positives” from contaminating populations. But the limited sensitivity and sparse overlap among the infrared and X-ray subsamples indicate that the sample is very incomplete with many “false negatives.” Maps, tables, and source descriptions are provided to guide further study of star formation in these regions. In particular, the nature of ultrahard X-ray protostellar candidates without known infrared counterparts needs to be elucidated.

OSTI ID:
22661490
Journal Information:
Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 833, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English