The wavelet-smoothed distribution of young stellar objects in the Galactic plane

We have analyzed the distribution of young objects (open clusters, classical Cepheids, and HII regions) projected onto the plane of the Galaxy using wavelet smoothing. This smoothing technique enables investigation of the large-scale structure of the distribution of young objects. All the studied ob...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Astronomy reports 2007-05, Vol.51 (5), p.364-371
Main Authors: Loktin, A V, Popova, M E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Milky Way
Stars & galaxies
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We have analyzed the distribution of young objects (open clusters, classical Cepheids, and HII regions) projected onto the plane of the Galaxy using wavelet smoothing. This smoothing technique enables investigation of the large-scale structure of the distribution of young objects. All the studied objects display a similar spiral structure, whose appearance essentially corresponds to a regular alternation of young and older stellar complexes along sections of the spiral arms. A four-arm spiral structure with its arms originating at the Galactic center is obtained if the major arms are taken to be the Carina-Sagittarius arm and an outer arm behind the Perseus arm. If all the observed arms are taken to be major arms, we obtain a 12-arm structure, in contradiction with the size of the region in which the structure is observed in the Galaxy. This discrepancy can be removed if the arms originate from a ring formed by a sufficiently long bar-like structure, rather then from the Galactic center.
ISSN:1063-7729
1562-6881
DOI:10.1134/S1063772907050022