The Diverse Stellar Populations of the W3 Star Forming Complex
Eric D. Feigelson, Leisa K. Townsley (Dept of Astronomy &, Astrophysics, Penn State University)

TL;DR
This study uses Chandra X-ray observations to reveal diverse stellar populations in the W3 star forming complex, highlighting different formation mechanisms and spatial distributions of young stars and high-mass stars.
Contribution
It provides the first detailed X-ray view of the W3 complex, identifying three distinct stellar populations and proposing multiple star formation processes.
Findings
W3 Main hosts about 900 X-ray stars over 7 pc.
W3(OH) has ~50 PMS stars in a 0.6 pc region.
W3 North contains a massive star without accompanying PMS stars.
Abstract
An 800 sq-arcmin mosaic image of the W3 star forming complex obtained with the Chandra X-ray Observatory gives a valuable new view of the spatial structure of its young stellar populations. The Chandra image reveals about 1300 faint X-ray sources, most of which are PMS stars in the cloud. Some, but not all, of the high-mass stars producing hypercompact and ultracompact H II (UCHII) regions are also seen, as reported in a previous study. The Chandra images reveal three dramatically different embedded stellar populations. The W3 Main cluster extends over 7 pc with about 900 X-ray stars in a nearly-spherical distribution centered on the well-studied UCHII regions and high-mass protostars. The cluster surrounding the prototypical UCHII region W3(OH) shows a much smaller (<0.6 pc), asymmetrical, and clumpy distribution of about 50 PMS stars. The massive star ionizing the W3 North H II…
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Taxonomy
TopicsAstrophysics and Star Formation Studies · Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies · Astronomy and Astrophysical Research
