A Chandra X-ray and Infrared Study of the Stellar Population in the High-Mass Star Forming Region IRAS 16562-3959

TL;DR

This study combines X-ray and infrared observations to analyze the stellar population and substructure of the high-mass star-forming region IRAS 16562-3959, revealing its complex cluster composition and protostar environment.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive multi-wavelength catalog of YSOs and characterizes the spatial distribution and evolutionary stages within the region, highlighting the core-halo structure around a high-mass protostar.

Findings

Detected 249 X-ray sources with low count rates and hard spectra.

Identified 922 YSOs, including 67 Class I, 764 Class II, and 91 Class III.

Found the high-mass protostar in a dense, young subcluster at the core.

Abstract

We present the results from Chandra X-ray observations, and near- and mid-infrared analysis, using VISTA/VVV and Spitzer/GLIMPSE catalogs, of the high-mass star-forming region IRAS 16562-3959, which contains a candidate for a high mass protostar. We detected 249 X-ray sources within the ACIS-I field-of-view. The majority of the X-ray sources have low count rates (< 0.638 cts/ks), and hard X-ray spectra. The search for YSOs in the region using VISTA/VVV and Spitzer/GLIMPSE catalogs resulted in a total of 799 YSOs, with 66 Class I and 733 Class II YSOs. The search for near- and mid-infrared counterparts of the X-ray sources led to a total of 165 VISTA/VVV counterparts, and a total of 151 Spitzer/GLIMPSE counterparts. The infrared analysis of the X-ray counterparts allowed us to add an extra 123 YSOs associated with the region. We conclude that a total of 922 YSOs are associated with the region, with 67 Class I, 764 Class II, and 91 Class III YSOs. We also found that the region is composed of 11 subclusters. In the vicinity of the high-mass protostar, the stellar distribution has a core-halo structure. The subcluster containing the high-mass protostar is the densest and the youngest in the region, and the high-mass protostar is located at its center. The YSOs in this cluster appear to be substantially older than the high mass protostar.