Year: 2006
Type: article
Abstract: We present near-infrared J , H , and K images of four embedded stellar clusters in the Galaxy. We find a significant fraction of pre-main-sequence stars present in at least one of the clusters. For the clusters dominated by main-sequence stars, we determine the initial mass function (IMF) both by using the K luminosity function and a global extinction correction and by deriving individual extinction corrections for each star based on their placement in the K versus H - K color-magnitude diagram. Based on our IMFs we find a significant discrepancy between the mean IMF derived via the different methods, suggesting that taking individual extinctions into account is necessary to correctly derive the IMF for an embedded cluster.
Source: The Astronomical Journal
DOI: 10.1086/500641
Authors: A. Leistra, A. S. Cotera, J. Liebert
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2059300004