Age spread in Galactic star forming region W3 Main
A. Bik (1), Th. Henning (1), A. Stolte (2), W. Brandner (1), D. A., Gouliermis (1), M. Gennaro (1), A. Pasquali (3), B. Rochau (1), H. Beuther, (1), N. Ageorges (4), W. Seifert (5), Y. Wang (6), N. Kudryavtseva (1), ((1), MPIA, Heidelberg, Germany, (2) AIfA, Bonn, Germany
TL;DR
This study uses near-infrared imaging and spectroscopy to identify massive stars and YSOs in W3 Main, revealing an age spread of 2-3 million years among the stellar population.
Contribution
It provides detailed spectral classification and age estimation of massive stars in W3 Main, enhancing understanding of star formation history in this region.
Findings
13 OB stars confirmed with spectral types O5V to B4V
3 massive YSOs identified by emission lines and infrared excess
Age spread of 2-3 Myr among stellar population
Abstract
We present near-infrared JHKs imaging as well as K-band multi-object spectroscopy of the massive stellar content of W3 Main using LUCI at the LBT. We confirm 13 OB stars by their absorption line spectra in W3 Main and spectral types between O5V and B4V have been found. Three massive Young Stellar Objects are identified by their emission line spectra and near-infrared excess. From our spectrophotometric analysis of the massive stars and the nature of their surrounding HII regions we derive the evolutionary sequence of W3 Main and we find an age spread of 2-3 Myr.
Peer Reviews
No public reviews on file for this paper yet. If you reviewed it on a platform where reviews are public (OpenReview, ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML), you can paste yours below so the community can read it here.
Videos
No videos yet. Explain this paper in a talk, walkthrough, or lecture? Add one.
Taxonomy
TopicsStellar, planetary, and galactic studies · Astronomy and Astrophysical Research · Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies