SPYGLASS. IV. New Stellar Survey of Recent Star Formation within 1 kpc

TL;DR

This study expands the census of nearby young stars within 1 kpc using advanced clustering methods, revealing new associations and structural links that inform star formation history and galactic dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces a revised young star identification method and a new catalog of young associations, uncovering numerous previously unknown groups and structural connections in the solar neighborhood.

Findings

116 young associations within 1 kpc identified

Over 25% of groups are new discoveries

Links between major star-forming regions suggested

Abstract

Young stellar populations provide a powerful record that traces millions of years of star formation history in the solar neighborhood. Using a revised form of the SPYGLASS young star identification methodology, we produce an expanded census of nearby young stars (Age $<50$ Myr). We then use the HDBSCAN clustering algorithm to produce a new SPYGLASS Catalog of Young Associations (SCYA), which reveals 116 young associations within 1 kpc. More than 25\% of these groups are largely new discoveries, as 20 are substantively different from any previous definition, and 10 have no equivalent in the literature. The new associations reveal a yet undiscovered demographic of small associations with little connection to larger structures. Some of the groups we identify are especially unique for their high transverse velocities, which can differ from the solar velocity by 30-50 km s$^{-1}$, and for their positions, which can reach up to 300 pc above the galactic plane. These features may suggest a unique origin, matching existing evidence of infalling gas parcels interacting with the disk ISM. Our clustering also suggests links between often-separated populations, hinting to direct structural connections between Orion Complex and Perseus OB2, and between the subregions of Vela. The $\sim$30 Myr old Cepheus-Hercules association is another emerging large-scale structure, with a size and population comparable to Sco-Cen. Cep-Her and other similarly-aged structures are also found clustered along extended structures perpendicular to known spiral arm structure, suggesting that arm-aligned star formation patterns have only recently become dominant in the solar neighborhood.