A revisit to agglomerates of early-type Hipparcos stars
% We study the spatial structure and sub-structure of regions rich in{Hipparcos} stars with blue B_T-V_T colours. These regions, whichcomprise large stellar complexes, OB associations, and young openclusters, are tracers of on-going star formation in the Galaxy. TheDBSCAN (Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise)data clustering algorithm is used to look for spatial overdensities ofearly-type stars. Once an overdensity, ``agglomerate'', is identified,we carry out a data and bibliographic compilation of their star membercandidates. The actual membership in agglomerate of each early-type staris studied based on its heliocentric distance, proper motion, andprevious spectro-photometric information. We identify 35 agglomerates ofearly-type {Hipparcos} stars. Most of them are associated to previouslyknown clusters and OB associations. The previously unknown P Puppisagglomerate is subject of a dedicated study with Virtual Observatorytools. It is actually a new, nearby, young open cluster (d ˜ 470pc, age ˜ 20 Ma) with a clear radial density gradient. We list PPuppis and other six agglomerates (including NGC 2451 A, vdBH 23, andTrumpler 10) as new sites for substellar searches because of theiryouth, closeness, and spatial density. We investigate in detail thesub-structure in the Orion, CMa-Pup and Pup-Vel OB complexes(``super-agglomerates''). We confirm or discover some stellaroverdensities in the Orion complex, like the 25 Ori group, the Horseheadregion (including the σ Orionis cluster), and the η Orionisagglomerate. Finally, we derive accurate parallactic distances to thePleiades, NGC 2451 A, and IC 2391, describe several field early-typestars at d < 200 pc, and discuss the incompleteness of our search.
|
INHABITED SKY
