Monday, 2nd October 2006 at 2.00pm @ the JAC

ABSTRACT: The DR21/W75 high mass star forming complex is scrutinised with the aid of wide-field near-, mid- and far-IR observations. JHK and narrow-band H2 1-0S(1) images from the wide-field camera WFCAM at UKIRT are compared to archival Spitzer/IRAC images and extensive 850 micron SCUBA scan maps. Together these data give a complete picture of dynamic star formation across this extensive region, which includes at least four separate star forming sites in various stages of evolution. The narrow-band WFCAM images reveal knots and bow shocks associated with more than 50 individual flows; the WFCAM JHK and Spitzer photometry uncover a distributed population of young stars and young stellar clusters; the SCUBA data trace a chain of dense, massive, pre-stellar cores that are probably the precursors to massive star forming clusters. With standard techniques we map the extinction, stellar content and clustering across the region and consider the effect massive star formation has on the GMC as a whole.

Relevant papers:
Davis C.J., Kumar M.S.N., Sandell G., Froebrich D., Smith M.D., Currie M.J., 2006, WFCAM, Spitzer-IRAC and SCUBA observations of the massive star forming region DR21/W75: I. The collimated molecular jets.
Kumar M.S.N., Davis C.J., Grave M.J.C., B. Ferreira, Froebrich D., 2006, WFCAM, Spitzer-IRAC and SCUBA observations of the massive star forming region DR21/W75: II. Stellar content and star formation.