AAS Meeting #193 - Austin, Texas, January 1999
Session 67. Open Clusters
Display, Friday, January 8, 1999, 9:20am-6:30pm, Exhibit Hall 1

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[67.06] Cluster Structure: A New Catalog and Method of Analysis

M. Christopher, P. Myers, L. Allen, J. Di Francesco, T. Megeath (Harvard-Smithsonian)

We have compiled a catalog of all recent near-infrared surveys of star-forming regions within 1 kpc. This catalog contains 129 entries from 46 different papers and covers over 30 different regions. We have developed the nearest-neighbors method, a new technique for measuring clustering in star-forming regions through calculating stellar densities. In comparison with other methods of cluster analysis, we have found that the nearest-neighbors method is superior in measuring stellar densities within clusters and identifying substructures containing a specified number of stars. From our catalog of surveys, we selected 5 regions, LkH\alpha234, L988-E, AFGL490, Mon R2, and L1641N, and analyzed these clusters using the nearest-neighbors method. These regions are shown to vary widely in maximum stellar density as well as in the existence of single or multiple centers of clustering and the properties of these centers.


The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: christop@fas.harvard.edu

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