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We present a detailed near-infrared study of an embedded cluster located in the hub of the giant molecular cloud G148.24+00.41 of mass $\sim$10$^5$ $M_\odot$, with the TANSPEC instrument mounted on the 3.6 m Devasthal Optical Telescope. The hub is located near the geometric center of the cloud and represents its most massive clump. We studied the central 2 pc $\times$ 2 pc area of the hub with 5$\sigma$ limiting magnitudes of 20.5, 20.1, and 18.6 mag in the $J$, $H$, and $K_s$ bands, respectively. Using the $K_s$-band luminosity function and comparing it with the synthetic clusters, we obtained the age of the cluster as $\sim$0.5 Myr, which was found to corroborate well with the visual extinction versus the age of nearby embedded clusters. We find that the present mass of the cluster is around $\sim$180 $M_\odot$, and the cluster is currently forming stars at a rate of $\sim$330 $M_\odot$ $\rm{Myr}^{-1}$, with an efficiency of $\sim$20%. The cluster is connected to an extended gas reservoir through a filamentary network; thus, we hypothesize that the cluster has the potential to become a richer cluster in a few Myr of time., Comment: 17 pages and 13 figures

The presence of extended Main Sequence Turn-Off (eMSTO) in the open clusters has been attributed to various factors, such as spread in rotation rates, binary stars, and dust-like extinction from stellar excretion discs. We present a comprehensive analysis of the eMSTO in the open cluster NGC 2355. Using spectra from the Gaia-ESO archives, we find that the stars in the red part of the eMSTO have a higher mean v sin i value of 135.3$\pm$4.6 km s$^{-1}$ compared to the stars in the blue part that have an average v sin i equal to 81.3$\pm$5.6 km s$^{-1}$. This suggests that the eMSTO in NGC 2355 is possibly caused by the spread in rotation rates of stars. We do not find any substantial evidence of the dust-like extinction from the eMSTO stars using ultraviolet data from the Swift survey. The estimated synchronization time for low mass ratio close binaries in the blue part of the eMSTO suggests that they would be mostly slow-rotating if present. However, the stars in the blue part of the eMSTO are preferentially located in the outer region of the cluster indicating that they may lack low mass ratio close binaries. The spread in rotation rates of eMSTO stars in NGC 2355 is most likely caused by the star-disc interaction mechanism. The stars in the lower main sequence beyond the eMSTO region of NGC 2355 are slow-rotating (mean v sin i = 26.5$\pm$1.3 km s$^{-1}$) possibly due to the magnetic braking of their rotations., Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We report a new hot post-asymptotic giant branch (PAGB) star in the Galactic globular cluster (GC) E3, which is one of the first of the identified PAGB stars in a GC to show a binary signature. The star stands out as the brightest source in E3 in the \mbox{{\em Astrosat}}/UVIT images. We confirmed its membership with the cluster E3 using Gaia DR3 kinematics and parallax measurements. We supplemented the photometric observations with radial velocities (RVs) from high-resolution spectroscopic observations at two epochs and with ground- and space-based photometric observations from 0.13 $\mu$m to 22 $\mu$m. We find that the RVs vary over $\sim$6 \kms\ between the two epochs. This is an indication of the star being in a binary orbit. A simulation of possible binary systems with the observed RVs suggests a binary period of either 39.12 days or 17.83 days with mass ratio q$\geq$1.0. The [Fe/H] derived using the high-resolution spectra is $\sim -$0.7 dex, which closely matches the cluster metallicity. The spectroscopic and photometric measurements suggest \Teff\ and $\log g$ of the star as 17\,500$\pm$1\,000~K and 2.37$\pm$0.20~dex, respectively. Various PAGB evolutionary tracks on the Hertzsprung--Russell (H-R) diagram suggest a current mass of the star in the range 0.51$-$0.55 \Msun. The star is enriched with C and O abundances, showing similar CNO abundances compared to the other PAGB stars in GCs with the evidence of the third dredge-up on the AGB phase., Comment: Published in A&A Letters, Published Version

The relative importance of magnetic fields, turbulence, and gravity in the early phases of star formation is still not well understood. We report the first high-resolution dust polarization observations at 850 $\mu$m around the most massive clump, located at the hub of the Giant Molecular Cloud G148.24+00.41, using SCUBA-2/POL-2 at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. We find that the degree of polarization decreases steadily towards the denser portion of the cloud. Comparing the intensity gradients and local gravity with the magnetic field orientations, we find that local gravity plays a dominant role in driving the gas collapse as the magnetic field orientations and gravity vectors seem to point towards the dense clumps. We also find evidence of U-shaped magnetic field morphology towards a small-scale elongated structure associated with the central clump, hinting at converging accretion flows towards the clump. Our observation has resolved the massive clump into multiple substructures. We study the magnetic field properties of two regions, central clump (CC) and northeastern elongated structure (NES). Using the modified Davis-Chandrasekhar Fermi method, we determine that the magnetic field strengths of CC and NES are $\sim$24.0 $\pm$ 6.0 $\mu$G and 20.0 $\pm$ 5.0 $\mu$G, respectively. The mass-to-flux ratios are found to be magnetically transcritical/supercritical, while the Alfv$\acute{\text{e}}$n Mach number indicates a trans-Alfv$\acute{\text{e}}$nic state in both regions. These results, along with Virial analysis, suggest that at the hub of G148.24+00.41, gravitational energy has an edge over magnetic and kinetic energies., Comment: 17 pages, 23 figures

Filamentary flows toward the centre of molecular clouds have been recognized as a crucial process in the formation and evolution of stellar clusters. In this paper, we present a comprehensive observational study that investigates the gas properties and kinematics of the Giant Molecular Cloud G148.24+00.41 using the observations of CO (1-0) isotopologues. We find that the cloud is massive (10$^5$ M$_\odot$) and is one of the most massive clouds of the outer Galaxy. We identified six likely velocity coherent filaments in the cloud having length, width, and mass in the range of 14$-$38 pc, 2.5$-$4.2 pc, and (1.3$-$6.9) $\times$ 10$^3$ M$_\odot$, respectively. We find that the filaments are converging towards the central area of the cloud, and the longitudinal accretion flows along the filaments are in the range of $\sim$ 26$-$264 M$_\odot$ Myr$^{-1}$. The cloud has fragmented into 7 clumps having mass in the range of $\sim$ 260$-$2100 M$_\odot$ and average size around $\sim$ 1.4 pc, out of which the most massive clump is located at the hub of the filamentary structures, near the geometric centre of the cloud. Three filaments are found to be directly connected to the massive clump and transferring matter at a rate of $\sim$ 675 M$_\odot$ Myr$^{-1}$. The clump hosts a near-infrared cluster. Our results show that large-scale filamentary accretion flows towards the central region of the collapsing cloud is an important mechanism for supplying the matter necessary to form the central high-mass clump and subsequent stellar cluster., Comment: 21 pages, 20 figures

Clouds more massive than about $10^5$ M$_\odot$ are potential sites of massive cluster formation. Studying the properties of such clouds in the early stages of their evolution offers an opportunity to test various cluster formation processes. We make use of CO, Herschel, and UKIDSS observations to study one such cloud, G148.24+00.41. Our results show the cloud to be of high mass ($\sim$ $1.1\times10^5$ M$_\odot$), low dust temperature ($\sim$ 14.5 K), nearly circular (projected radius $\sim$ 26 pc), and gravitationally bound with a dense gas fraction of $\sim 18$% and a density profile with a power-law index of $\sim -1.5$. Comparing its properties with those of nearby molecular clouds, we find that G148.24+00.41 is comparable to the Orion-A molecular cloud in terms of mass, size, and dense gas fraction. From our analyses, we find that the central area of the cloud is actively forming protostars and is moderately fractal with a Q-value of $\sim$ 0.66. We also find evidence of global mass-segregation in the cloud, with a degree of mass-segregation ($\Lambda_{MSR}) \approx3.2$. We discuss these results along with the structure and compactness of the cloud, the spatial and temporal distribution of embedded stellar population, and their correlation with the cold dust distribution, in the context of high-mass cluster formation. Comparing our results with models of star cluster formation, we conclude that the cloud has the potential to form a cluster in the mass range $\sim$ 2000--3000 M$_\odot$ through dynamical hierarchical collapse and assembly of both gas and stars., Comment: It is accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS). The unedited version of the manuscript has been published

We present a comprehensive multiwavelength investigation of a likely massive young cluster `IRAS 05100+3723' and its environment with the aim to understand its formation history and feedback effects. We find that IRAS 05100+3723 is a distant ($\sim$3.2 kpc), moderate mass ($\sim$500 \msun), young ($\sim$3 Myr) cluster with its most massive star being an O8.5V-type. From spectral modeling, we estimate the effective temperature and log $g$ of the star as $\sim$33,000 K and $\sim$3.8, respectively. Our radio continuum observations reveal that the star has ionized its environment forming an HII region of size $\sim$2.7 pc, temperature $\sim$5,700 K, and electron density $\sim$165 cm$^{-3}$. However, our large-scale dust maps reveal that it has heated the dust up to several parsecs ($\sim$10 pc) in the range 17$-$28 K and the morphology of warm dust emission resembles a bipolar HII region. From dust and $^{13}$CO gas analyses, we find evidences that the formation of the HII region has occurred at the very end of a long filamentary cloud around 3 Myr ago, likely due to edge collapse of the filament. We show that the HII region is currently compressing a clump of mass $\sim$2700 \msun at its western outskirts, at the junction of the HII region and filament. We observe several 70 $\mu$m point sources of intermediate-mass and class 0 nature within the clump. We attribute these sources as the second generation stars of the complex. We propose that the star formation in the clump is either induced or being facilitated by the compression of the expanding HII region onto the inflowing filamentary material., Comment: ApJ, accepted

We present a detailed characterisation and theoretical interpretation of the broadband emission of the paradigmatic TeV blazar Mrk 421, with special focus on the multi-band flux correlations. The dataset has been collected through an extensive multiwavelength campaign organised between 2016 December and 2017 June. The instruments involved are MAGIC, FACT, Fermi-LAT, Swift, GASP-WEBT, OVRO, Medicina and Mets\"ahovi. Additionally, four deep exposures (several hours long) with simultaneous MAGIC and NuSTAR observations allowed a precise measurement of the falling segments of the two spectral components. The very-high-energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) gamma rays and X-rays are positively correlated at zero time lag, but the strength and characteristics of the correlation change substantially across the various energy bands probed. The VHE versus X-ray fluxes follow different patterns, partly due to substantial changes in the Compton dominance during a few days without a simultaneous increase in the X-ray flux (i.e. orphan gamma-ray activity). Studying the broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) during the days including NuSTAR observations, we show that these changes can be explained within a one-zone leptonic model with a blob that increases its size over time. Our multi-band correlation study also hints at an anti-correlation between UV/optical and X-ray at a significance higher than 3 sigmas. A VHE flare observed on 2017 February 4 shows gamma-ray variability on multi-hour timescales, with a factor 10 increase in the TeV flux but only a moderate increase in the keV flux. The related broadband SED is better described by a two-zone leptonic scenario rather than by a one-zone scenario. We find that the flare can be produced by the appearance of a compact second blob populated by high energetic electrons spanning a narrow range of Lorentz factors., Comment: 38 pages, 23 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Corresponding authors: Axel Arbet-Engels, David Paneque

The latest generation of Galactic-plane surveys is enhancing our ability to study the effects of galactic environment upon the process of star formation. We present the first data from CO Heterodyne Inner Milky Way Plane Survey 2 (CHIMPS2). CHIMPS2 is a survey that will observe the Inner Galaxy, the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ), and a section of the Outer Galaxy in $^{12}$CO, $^{13}$CO, and C$^{18}$O $(J = 3\rightarrow2)$ emission with the Heterodyne Array Receiver Program on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). The first CHIMPS2 data presented here are a first look towards the CMZ in $^{12}$CO J = 3$\rightarrow$2 and cover $-3^{\circ}\leq\,\ell\,\leq\,5^{\circ}$ and $\mid$b$\mid \leq 0.5^{\circ}$ with angular resolution of 15 arcsec, velocity resolution of 1 km s$^{-1}$, and rms $\Delta T_A ^\ast =$ 0.58 K at these resolutions. Such high-resolution observations of the CMZ will be a valuable data set for future studies, whilst complementing the existing Galactic Plane surveys, such as SEDIGISM, the Herschel infrared Galactic Plane Survey, and ATLASGAL. In this paper, we discuss the survey plan, the current observations and data, as well as presenting position-position maps of the region. The position-velocity maps detect foreground spiral arms in both absorption and emission., Comment: 18 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

The aim of the present work is to study structure and gas kinematics in the photodissociation regions (PDRs) around the compact HII regions S235A and S235C. We observe the [CII], [13CII] and [OI] line emission, using SOFIA/upGREAT and complement them by data of HCO+ and CO. We use the [13CII] line to measure the optical depth of the [CII] emission, and find that the [CII] line profiles are influenced by self-absorption, while the [13CII] line remains unaffected by these effects. Hence, for dense PDRs, [13CII] emission is a better tracer of gas kinematics. The optical depth of the [CII] line is up to 10 in S235A. We find an expanding motion of the [CII]-emitting layer of the PDRs into the front molecular layer in both regions. Comparison of the gas and dust columns shows that gas components visible neither in the [CII] nor in low-J CO lines may contribute to the total column across S235A. We test whether the observed properties of the PDRs match the predictions of spherical models of expanding HII region + PDR + molecular cloud. Integrated intensities of the [13CII], [CII] and [OI] lines are well-represented by the model, but the models do not reproduce the double-peaked [CII] line profiles due to an insufficient column density of C+. The model predicts that the [OI] line could be a more reliable tracer of gas kinematics, but the foreground self-absorbing material does not allow using it in the considered regions., Comment: accepted to MNRAS

We report the results of decade-long (2008-2018) $\gamma$-ray to 1 GHz radio monitoring of the blazar 3C 279, including GASP/WEBT, $\it{Fermi}$ and $\it{Swift}$ data, as well as polarimetric and spectroscopic data. The X-ray and $\gamma$-ray light curves correlate well, with no delay > 3 hours, implying general co-spatiality of the emission regions. The $\gamma$-ray-optical flux-flux relation changes with activity state, ranging from a linear to a more complex dependence. The behaviour of the Stokes parameters at optical and radio wavelengths, including 43 GHz VLBA images, supports either a predominantly helical magnetic field or motion of the radiating plasma along a spiral path. Apparent speeds of emission knots range from 10 to 37c, with the highest values requiring bulk Lorentz factors close to those needed to explain $\gamma$-ray variability on very short time scales. The Mg II emission line flux in the `blue' and `red' wings correlates with the optical synchrotron continuum flux density, possibly providing a variable source of seed photons for inverse Compton scattering. In the radio bands we find progressive delays of the most prominent light curve maxima with decreasing frequency, as expected from the frequency dependence of the $\tau=1$ surface of synchrotron self-absorption. The global maximum in the 86 GHz light curve becomes less prominent at lower frequencies, while a local maximum, appearing in 2014, strengthens toward decreasing frequencies, becoming pronounced at $\sim5$ GHz. These tendencies suggest different Doppler boosting of stratified radio-emitting zones in the jet., Comment: 21 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present a multiwavelength study of the flat-spectrum radio quasar CTA 102 during 2013-2017. We use radio-to-optical data obtained by the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope, 15 GHz data from the Owens Valley Radio Observatory, 91 and 103 GHz data from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, near-infrared data from the Rapid Eye Monitor telescope, as well as data from the Swift (optical-UV and X-rays) and Fermi ($\gamma$ rays) satellites to study flux and spectral variability and the correlation between flux changes at different wavelengths. Unprecedented $\gamma$-ray flaring activity was observed during 2016 November-2017 February, with four major outbursts. A peak flux of (2158 $\pm$ 63)$\times$10$^{-8}$ ph cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, corresponding to a luminosity of (2.2 $\pm$ 0.1)$\times$10$^{50}$ erg s$^{-1}$, was reached on 2016 December 28. These four $\gamma$-ray outbursts have corresponding events in the near-infrared, optical, and UV bands, with the peaks observed at the same time. A general agreement between X-ray and $\gamma$-ray activity is found. The $\gamma$-ray flux variations show a general, strong correlation with the optical ones with no time lag between the two bands and a comparable variability amplitude. This $\gamma$-ray/optical relationship is in agreement with the geometrical model that has successfully explained the low-energy flux and spectral behaviour, suggesting that the long-term flux variations are mainly due to changes in the Doppler factor produced by variations of the viewing angle of the emitting regions. The difference in behaviour between radio and higher energy emission would be ascribed to different viewing angles of the jet regions producing their emission., Comment: 24 pages, 18 figures, and 4 tables. Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Although the 2P3/2-2P1/2 transition of [CII] at 158um is known to be an excellent tracer of active star formation, we still do not have a complete understanding of where within star formation regions the emission originates. Here, we use SOFIA upGREAT observations of [CII] emission toward the HII region complex Sh2-235 (S235) to better understand in detail the origin of [CII] emission. We complement these data with a fully-sampled Green Bank Telescope radio recombination line map tracing the ionized hydrogen gas. About half of the total [CII] emission associated with S235 is spatially coincident with ionized hydrogen gas, although spectroscopic analysis shows little evidence that this emission is coming from the ionized hydrogen volume. Velocity-integrated [CII] intensity is strongly correlated with WISE 12um intensity across the entire complex, indicating that both trace ultra-violet radiation fields. The 22um and radio continuum intensities are only correlated with [CII] intensity in the ionized hydrogen portion of the S235 region and the correlations between the [CII] and molecular gas tracers are poor across the region. We find similar results for emission averaged over a sample of external galaxies, although the strength of the correlations is weaker. Therefore, although many tracers are correlated with the strength of [CII] emission, only WISE 12um emission is correlated on small-scales of the individual HII region S235 and also has a decent correlation at the scale of entire galaxies. Future studies of a larger sample of Galactic HII regions would help to determine whether these results are truly representative., Comment: Accepted to ApJ

We present the first release of the data and compact-source catalogue for the JCMT Large Program SCUBA-2 Continuum Observations of Pre-protostellar Evolution (SCOPE). SCOPE consists of 850-um continuum observations of 1235 Planck Galactic Cold Clumps (PGCCs) made with the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array 2 on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. These data are at an angular resolution of 14.4 arcsec, significantly improving upon the 353-GHz resolution of Planck at 5 arcmin, and allowing for a catalogue of 3528 compact sources in 558 PGCCs. We find that the detected PGCCs have significant sub-structure, with 61 per cent of detected PGCCs having 3 or more compact sources, with filamentary structure also prevalent within the sample. A detection rate of 45 per cent is found across the survey, which is 95 per cent complete to Planck column densities of $N_{H_{2}}$ $>$ 5 $\times$ 10$^{21}$ cm$^{-2}$. By positionally associating the SCOPE compact sources with YSOs, the star formation efficiency, as measured by the ratio of luminosity to mass, in nearby clouds is found to be similar to that in the more distant Galactic Plane, with the column density distributions also indistinguishable from each other., Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We report the AGILE detection and the results of the multifrequency follow-up observations of a bright $\gamma$-ray flare of the blazar 3C 279 in June 2015. We use AGILE-GRID and Fermi-LAT $\gamma$-ray data, together with Swift-XRT, Swift-UVOT, and ground-based GASP-WEBT optical observations, including polarization information, to study the source variability and the overall spectral energy distribution during the $\gamma$-ray flare. The $\gamma$-ray flaring data, compared with as yet unpublished simultaneous optical data which allow to set constraints on the big blue bump disk luminosity, show very high Compton dominance values of $\sim 100$, with a ratio of $\gamma$-ray to optical emission rising by a factor of three in a few hours. The multi-wavelength behavior of the source during the flare challenges one-zone leptonic theoretical models. The new observations during the June 2015 flare are also compared with already published data and non-simultaneous historical 3C 279 archival data., Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures,5 Tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ

We present results of a high resolution study of the filamentary infrared dark cloud G192.76+00.10 in the S254-S258 OB complex in several molecular species tracing different physical conditions. These include three isotopologues of carbon monoxide (CO), ammonia (NH$_3$), carbon monosulfide (CS). The aim of this work is to study the general structure and kinematics of the filamentary cloud, its fragmentation and physical parameters. The gas temperature is derived from the NH$_3 $ $(J,K) = (1,1), (2,2)$ and $^{12}$CO(2--1) lines and the $^{13}$CO(1--0), $^{13}$CO(2--1) emission is used to investigate the overall gas distribution and kinematics. Several dense clumps are identified from the CS(2--1) data. Values of the gas temperature lie in the ranges $10-35$ K, column density $N(\mathrm{H}_2)$ reaches the value 5.1 10$^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$. The width of the filament is of order 1 pc. The masses of the dense clumps range from $ \sim 30 $ M$_\odot$ to $ \sim 160 $ M$_\odot$. They appear to be gravitationally unstable. The molecular emission shows a gas dynamical coherence along the filament. The velocity pattern may indicate longitudinal collapse., Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics

W4 is a giant H{\sc ii} region ionized by the OB stars of the cluster IC~1805. The H{\sc ii} region/cluster complex has been a subject of numerous investigations as it is an excellent laboratory for studying the feedback effect of massive stars on the surrounding region. However, the low-mass stellar content of the cluster IC~1805 remains poorly studied till now. With the aim to unravel the low-mass stellar population of the cluster, we present the results of a multiwavelength study based on deep optical data obtained with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, infrared data from 2MASS, $Spitzer$ Space Telescope and X-ray data from $Chandra$ Space Telescope. The present optical dataset is complete enough to detect stars down to 0.2~M$_\odot$, which is the deepest optical observations so far for the cluster. We identified 384 candidate young stellar objects (YSOs; 101 Class I/II and 283 Class III) within the cluster using various colour-colour and colour-magnitude diagrams. We inferred the mean age of the identified YSOs to be $\sim$ 2.5 Myr and mass in the range 0.3 - 2.5 M$_\odot$. The mass function of our YSO sample has a power law index of -1.23 $\pm$ 0.23, close to the Salpeter value (-1.35), and consistent with those of other star-forming complexes. We explored the disk evolution of the cluster members and found that the diskless sources are relatively older compared to the disk bearing YSO candidates. We examined the effect of high-mass stars on the circumstellar disks and found that within uncertainties, the influence of massive stars on the disk fraction seems to be insignificant. We also studied the spatial correlation of the YSOs with the distribution of gas and dust of the complex to conclude that IC 1805 would have formed in a large filamentary cloud., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS; 34 pages, 10 figures

The advent of Wide Field Adaptive Optics (WFAO) systems marks the beginning of a new era in high spatial resolution imaging. The newly commissioned Gemini South Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics System (GeMS) combined with the infrared camera Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager (GSAOI), delivers quasi diffraction-limited images over a field of 2 arc-minutes across. However, despite this excellent performance, some variable residues still limit the quality of the analyses. In particular, distortions severely affect GSAOI and become a critical issue for high-precision astrometry and photometry. In this paper, we investigate an optimal way to correct for the distortion following an inverse problem approach. Formalism as well as applications on GeMS data are presented., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures

We present a multiwavelength investigation of the young stellar population and star formation activities around the \hii region Sharpless 311. Using our deep near-infrared observations and archival {\it Spitzer}-IRAC observations, we have detected a total of 125 young stellar objects (YSOs) in an area of $\sim$86 arcmin$^2$. The YSOs sample include 8 Class I and 117 Class II candidate YSOs. The mass completeness of the identified YSOs sample is estimated to be 1.0 \msun. The ages and masses of the majority of the candidate YSOs are estimated to be in the range of $\sim$0.1$-$5 Myr and $\sim$0.3$-$6 \msun, respectively. The 8 \mum image of S311 displays an approximately spherical cavity around the ionizing source which is possibly created due to the expansion of the \hii region. The spatial distribution of the candidate YSOs reveals that a significant number of them are distributed systematically along the 8 $\mu$m emission with a majority clustered around the eastern border of the \hii region. Four clumps/compact \hii regions are detected in the radio continuum observations at 1280 MHz, which might have been formed during the expansion of the \hii region. The estimated dynamical age of the region, main-sequence lifetime of the ionizing source, the spatial distribution and ages of the candidate YSOs indicate triggered star formation in the complex., Comment: 21 pages, 5 tables, 15 figures, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2016)

Aims. The formation and properties of star clusters at the edge of H II regions are poorly known, partly due to limitations in angular resolution and sensitivity, which become particularly critical when dealing with extragalactic clusters. In this paper we study the stellar content and star-formation processes in the young N159W region in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Methods. We investigate the star-forming sites in N159W at unprecedented spatial resolution using JHKs-band images obtained with the GeMS/GSAOI instrument on the Gemini South telescope. The typical angular resolution of the images is of 100 mas, with a limiting magnitude in H of 22 mag (90 percent completeness). Photometry from our images is used to identify candidate young stellar objects (YSOs) in N159W. We also determine the H-band luminosity function of the star cluster at the centre of the H II region and use this to estimate its initial mass function (IMF). Results. We estimate an age of 2 + or - 1 Myr for the central cluster, with its IMF described by a power-law with an index of gamma = - 1.05 + or - 0.2 , and with a total estimated mass of 1300 solar mass. We also identify 104 candidate YSOs, which are concentrated in clumps and subclusters of stars, principally at the edges of the H II region. These clusters display signs of recent and active star-formation such as ultra-compact H II regions, and molecular outflows. This suggests that the YSOs are typically younger than the central cluster, pointing to sequential star-formation in N159W, which has probably been influenced by interactions with the expanding H II bubble.

We present time series photometry of 57 variable stars in the cluster region NGC 7380. The association of these variable stars to the cluster NGC 7380 has been established on the basis of two colour diagrams and colour-magnitude diagrams. Seventeen stars are found to be main-sequence variables, which are mainly B type stars and are classified as slowly pulsating B stars, $\beta$ Cep or $\delta$ Scuti stars. Some of them may belong to new class variables as discussed by Mowlavi et al. (2013) and Lata et al. (2014). Present sample also contains 14 pre-main-sequence stars, whose ages and masses are found to be mostly $\lesssim$ 5 Myr and range 0.60 $\lesssim M/M_{\odot} \lesssim$ 2.30 and hence should be T-Tauri stars. About half of the weak line T-Tauri stars are found to be fast rotators with a period of $\lesssim$ 2 days as compared to the classical T-Tauri stars. Some of the variables belong to the field star population., Comment: 14pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1209.1472

We present the analysis of the stellar content of NGC~2282, a young cluster in the Monoceros constellation, using deep optical $BVI$ and IPHAS photometry along with infrared (IR) data from UKIDSS and $Spitzer$-IRAC. Based on the stellar surface density analysis using nearest neighborhood method, the radius of the cluster is estimated as $\sim$ 3.15$\arcmin$. From optical spectroscopic analysis of 8 bright sources, we have classified three early B-type members in the cluster, which includes, HD 289120, a previously known B2V type star, a Herbig Ae/Be star (B0.5 Ve) and a B5 V star. From spectrophotometric analyses, the distance to the cluster has been estimated as $\sim$ 1.65 kpc. The $K$-band extinction map is estimated using nearest neighborhood technique, and the mean extinction within the cluster area is found to be A$_V$ $\sim$ 3.9 mag. Using IR colour-colour criteria and H$_\alpha$-emission properties, we have identified a total of 152 candidate young stellar objects (YSOs) in the region, of which, 75 are classified as Class II, 9 are Class I YSOs. Our YSO catalog also includes 50 H$_\alpha$-emission line sources, identified using slitless spectroscopy and IPHAS photometry data. Based on the optical and near-IR colour-magnitude diagram analyses, the cluster age has been estimated to be in the range of 2 $-$ 5 Myr, which is in agreement with the estimated age from disc fraction ($\sim$ 58\%). Masses of these YSOs are found to be $\sim$ 0.1$-$2.0 M$_\odot$. Spatial distribution of the candidate YSOs shows spherical morphology, more or less similar to the surface density map., Comment: 16 pages, 19 Figures

We report the results of our observations of the S255IR area with the SMA at 1.3 mm in the very extended configuration and at 0.8 mm in the compact configuration as well as with the IRAM-30m at 0.8 mm. The best achieved angular resolution is about 0.4 arcsec. The dust continuum emission and several tens of molecular spectral lines are observed. The majority of the lines is detected only towards the S255IR-SMA1 clump, which represents a rotating structure (probably disk) around the young massive star. The achieved angular resolution is still insufficient for conclusions about Keplerian or non-Keplerian character of the rotation. The temperature of the molecular gas reaches 130-180 K. The size of the clump is about 500 AU. The clump is strongly fragmented as follows from the low beam filling factor. The mass of the hot gas is significantly lower than the mass of the central star. A strong DCN emission near the center of the hot core most probably indicates a presence of a relatively cold ($\lesssim 80$ K) and rather massive clump there. High velocity emission is observed in the CO line as well as in lines of high density tracers HCN, HCO+, CS and other molecules. The outflow morphology obtained from combination of the SMA and IRAM-30m data is significantly different from that derived from the SMA data alone. The CO emission detected with the SMA traces only one boundary of the outflow. The outflow is most probably driven by jet bow shocks created by episodic ejections from the center. We detected a dense high velocity clump associated apparently with one of the bow shocks. The outflow strongly affects the chemical composition of the surrounding medium., Comment: 19 pages, 23 figures, accepted by The Astrophysical Journal

Our goal is to identify bipolar HII regions and to understand their morphology, their evolution, and the role they play in the formation of new generations of stars. We use the Spitzer and Herschel Hi-GAL surveys to identify bipolar HII regions. We search for their exciting star(s) and estimate their distances using near-IR data. Dense clumps are detected using Herschel-SPIRE data. MALT90 observations allow us to ascertain their association with the central HII region. We identify Class 0/I YSOs using their Spitzer and Herschel-PACS emissions. These methods will be applied to the entire sample of candidate bipolar HII regions. This paper focuses on two bipolar HII regions, one interesting in terms of its morphology, G319.88$+$00.79, and one in terms of its star formation, G010.32$-$00.15. Their exciting clusters are identified and their photometric distances estimated to be 2.6 kpc and 1.75 kpc, respectively. We suggest that these regions formed in dense and flat structures that contain filaments. They have a central ionized region and ionized lobes perpendicular to the parental cloud. The remains of the parental cloud appear as dense (more than 10^4 per cm^3) and cold (14-17 K) condensations. The dust in the PDR is warm (19-25 K). Dense massive clumps are present around the central ionized region. G010.32-00.14 is especially remarkable because five clumps of several hundred solar masses surround the central HII region; their peak column density is a few 10^23 per cm^2, and the mean density in their central regions reaches several 10^5 per cm^3. Four of them contain at least one massive YSO; these clumps also contain extended green objects and Class II methanol masers. This morphology suggests that the formation of a second generation of massive stars has been triggered by the central bipolar HII region. It occurs in the compressed material of the parental cloud., Comment: 32 pages, 28 figures, to be published in A&A

Infrared Dark Clouds are ideal laboratories to study the initial processes of high-mass star and star cluster formation. We investigated star formation activity of an unexplored filamentary dark cloud (~5.7pc x 1.9pc), which itself is part of a large filament (~20pc) located in the S254-S258 OB complex at a distance of 2.5kpc. Using MIPS Spitzer 24 micron data, we uncover 49 sources with SNR greater than 5. We identified 45 sources as candidate YSOs of Class I, Flat-spectrum & Class II nature. Additional 17 candidate YSOs (9 Class I & 8 Class II) are also identified using JHK and WISE photometry. We find that the protostar to Class II sources ratio (~2) and the protostar fraction (~70%) of the region are high. When the protostar fraction compared to other young clusters, it suggests that the star formation in the dark cloud was possibly started only 1 Myr ago. Combining the NIR photometry of the YSO candidates with the theoretical evolutionary models, we infer that most of the candidate YSOs formed in the dark cloud are low-mass (<2 Msolar) in nature. We examine the spatial distribution of the YSOs and find that majority of them are linearly aligned along the highest column density line (N(H2) ~1 x 10^22 cm^-2) of the dark cloud along its long axis at mean nearest neighbor separation of ~0.2pc. Using observed properties of the YSOs, physical conditions of the cloud and a simple cylindrical model, we explore the possible star formation process of this filamentary dark cloud and suggest that gravitational fragmentation within the filament should have played a dominant role in the formation of the YSOs. From the total mass of the YSOs, gaseous mass associated with the dark cloud, and surrounding environment, we infer that the region is presently forming stars at an efficiency ~3% and a rate ~30 Msolar Myr^-1, and may emerge to a richer cluster., Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, Accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysics

We investigate the star formation activity in a young star forming cluster embedded at the edge of the RCW 41 HII region. As a complementary goal, we aim at demonstrating the gain provided by Wide-Field Adaptive Optics instruments to study young clusters. We used deep, JHKs images from the newly commissioned Gemini-GeMS/GSAOI instrument, complemented with Spitzer IRAC observations, in order to study the photometric properties of the young stellar cluster. GeMS is an AO instrument, delivering almost diffraction limited images over a field of 2' across. The exquisite angular resolution allows us to reach a limiting magnitude of J = 22 for 98% completeness. The combination of the IRAC photometry with our JHKs catalog is used to build color-color diagrams, and select Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) candidates. We detect the presence of 80 Young Stellar Object (YSO) candidates. Those YSOs are used to infer the cluster age, which is found to be in the range 1 to 5 Myr. We find that 1/3 of the YSOs are in a range between 3 to 5 Myr, while 2/3 of the YSO are < 3 Myr. When looking at the spatial distribution of these two populations, we evidence a potential age gradient across the field, suggesting sequential star formation. We construct the IMF, and show that we can sample the mass distribution well into the brown dwarf regime (down to 0.01 Msun). The logarithmic mass function rises to peak at 0.3 Msun, before turning over and declining into the brown dwarf regime. The total cluster mass derived is estimated to be 78 +/- 18 Msun, while the ratio of brown dwarfs to star derived is 18 p/- 5 %. When comparing with other young clusters, we find that the IMF shape of the young cluster embedded within RCW 41 is consistent with those of Trapezium, IC 348 or Chamaeleon I, except for the IMF peak, which happens to be at higher mass. This characteristic is also seen in clusters like NGC 6611 or even Taurus., Comment: 19 pages, 17 figures, Accepted for publication in A&A, V2 with editor corrections

An investigation of the IRAS 16148-5011 region - a cluster at a distance of 3.6 kpc - is presented here, carried out using multiwavelength data in near-infrared (NIR) from the 1.4m Infrared Survey Facility telescope, mid-infrared (MIR) from the archival Spitzer GLIMPSE survey, far-infrared (FIR) from the Herschel archive, and low-frequency radio continuum observations at 1280 and 843 MHz from the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) and Molonglo Survey archive, respectively. A combination of NIR and MIR data is used to identify 7 Class I and 133 Class II sources in the region. Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) analysis of selected sources reveals a 9.6 Msolar, high-mass source embedded in nebulosity. However, Lyman continuum luminosity calculation using radio emission - which shows a compact HII, region - indicates the spectral type of the ionizing source to be earlier than B0-O9.5. Free-free emission SED modelling yields the electron density as 138 cm^{-3}, and thus the mass of the ionized hydrogen as ~16.4 Msolar. Thermal dust emission modelling, using the FIR data from Herschel and performing modified blackbody fits, helped us construct the temperature and column density maps of the region, which show peak values of 30 K and 3.3x10^{22} cm^{-2}, respectively. The column density maps reveal an AV > 20 mag extinction associated with the nebular emission, and weak filamentary structures connecting dense clumps. The clump associated with this IRAS object is found to have dimensions of ~1.1 pc x 0.8 pc, and a mass of 1023 Msolar., Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures, 3 tables, Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Bright-rimmed clouds (BRCs), illuminated and shaped by nearby OB stars, are potential sites of recent/ongoing star formation. Here we present an optical and infrared photometric study of three BRCs: BRC 5, BRC 7 and BRC 39 to obtain a census of the young stellar population, thereby inferring the star formation scenario, in these regions. In each BRC, the Class I sources are found to be located mostly near the bright rim or inside the cloud, whereas the Class II sources are preferentially outside, with younger sources closer to the rim. This provides strong support to sequential star formation triggered by radiation driven implosion due to the UV radiation. Moreover, each BRC contains a small group of young stars being revealed at its head, as the next-generation stars. In particular, the young stars at the heads of BRC 5 and BRC 7 are found to be intermediate/high mass stars, which, under proper conditions, may themselves trigger further star birth, thereby propagating star formation out to long distances., Comment: 30 pages, 7 Figures, 6 Tables, accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

The stellar content in and around Sh2-311 region have been studied using the deep optical observations as well as near-infrared (NIR) data from 2MASS. The region contains three clusters, viz. NGC 2467, Haffner 18 and Haffner 19. We have made an attempt to distinguish the stellar content of these individual regions as well as to re-determine their fundamental parameters such as distance, reddening, age, onto the basis of a new and more extended optical and infrared photometric data set. NGC 2467 and Haffner 19 are found to be located in the Perseus arm at the distances of 5.0 $\pm$ 0.4 kpc and 5.7 $\pm$ 0.4 kpc, respectively, whereas Haffner 18 is located at the distance of 11.2 $\pm$ 1.0 kpc. The clusters NGC 2467 and Haffner 19 might have formed from the same molecular cloud, whereas the cluster Haffner 18 is located in the outer galactic arm, i.e. the Norma-Cygnus arm. We identify 8 class II young stellar objects (YSOs) using the NIR $(J - H)/(H - K)$ two colour diagram. We have estimated the age and mass of the YSOs identified in the present work and those by Snider et al. (2009) using the $V/(V - I)$ colour-magnitude diagram. The estimated ages and mass range of the majority of the YSOs are $\lesssim$1 Myr and $\sim$0.4 - 3.5 \msun, respectively, indicating that these sources could be T-Tauri stars or their siblings. Spatial distribution of the YSOs shows that some of the YSOs are distributed around the H II region Sh2-311, suggesting a triggered star formation at its periphery., Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures, 9 table; Accepted for publication in New Astronomy

This work aims at improving the current understanding of the interaction between H ii regions and turbulent molecular clouds. We propose a new method to determine the age of a large sample of OB associations by investigating the development of their associated H ii regions in the surrounding turbulent medium. Using analytical solutions, one-dimensional (1D), and three-dimensional (3D) simulations, we constrained the expansion of the ionized bubble depending on the turbulent level of the parent molecular cloud. A grid of 1D simulations was then computed in order to build isochrone curves for H ii regions in a pressure-size diagram. This grid of models allowed to date large sample of OB associations and was used on the H ii Region Discovery Survey (HRDS). Analytical solutions and numerical simulations showed that the expansion of H ii regions is slowed down by the turbulence up to the point where the pressure of the ionized gas is in a quasi-equilibrium with the turbulent ram pressure. Based on this result, we built a grid of 1D models of the expansion of H ii regions in a profile based on Larson laws. The 3D turbulence is taken into account by an effective 1D temperature profile. The ages estimated by the isochrones of this grid agree well with literature values of well-known regions such as Rosette, RCW 36, RCW 79, and M16. We thus propose that this method can be used to give ages of young OB associations through the Galaxy such as the HRDS survey and also in nearby extra-galactic sources., Comment: Accepted in A&A

We investigate the star formation activity in the molecular complex associated with the Galactic HII region Sh2-90, using radio-continuum maps obtained at 1280 MHz and 610 MHz, Herschel Hi-GAL observations at 70 -- 500 microns, and deep near-infrared observation at JHK bands, along with Spitzer observations. Sh2-90 presents a bubble morphology in the mid-IR (size ~ 0.9 pc x 1.6 pc). Radio observations suggest it is an evolved HII region with an electron density ~ 144 cm^-3, emission measure ~ 6.7 x 10^4 cm^-6 pc and a ionized mass ~ 55 Msun. From Hi-GAL observations it is found that the HII region is part of an elongated extended molecular cloud (size ~ 5.6 pc x 9.7 pc, H_2 column density >= 3 x 10^21 cm^-2 and dust temperature 18 -- 27 K) of total mass >= 1 x 10^4 Msun. We identify the ionizing cluster of Sh2-90, the main exciting star being an O8--O9 V star. Five cold dust clumps (mass ~ 8 -- 95 Msun), four mid-IR blobs around B stars, and a compact HII region are found at the edge of the bubble.The velocity information derived from CO (J=3-2) data cubes suggests that most of them are associated with the Sh2-90 region. 129 YSOs are identified (Class I, Class II, and near-IR excess sources). The majority of the YSOs are low mass (<= 3 Msun) sources and they are distributed mostly in the regions of high column density. Four candidate Class 0/I MYSOs have been found; they will possibly evolve to stars of mass >= 15 Msun. We suggest multi-generation star formation is present in the complex. From the evidences of interaction, the time scales involved and the evolutionary status of stellar/protostellar sources, we argue that the star formation at the immediate border/edges of Sh2-90 might have been triggered by the expanding HII region. However, several young sources in this complex are probably formed by some other processes., Comment: 22 pages, 22 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

Continuing the attempt to understand the properties of the stellar content in the young cluster NGC 1893 we have carried out a comprehensive multi-wavelength study of the region. The present study focuses on the X-ray properties of T-Tauri Stars (TTSs) in the NGC 1893 region. We found a correlation between the X-ray luminosity, $L_X$, and the stellar mass (in the range 0.2$-$2.0 \msun) of TTSs in the NGC 1893 region, similar to those reported in some other young clusters, however the value of the power-law slope obtained in the present study ($\sim$ 0.9) for NGC 1893 is smaller than those ($\sim$1.4 - 3.6) reported in the case of TMC, ONC, IC 348 and Chameleon star forming regions. However, the slope in the case of Class III sources (Weak line TTSs) is found to be comparable to that reported in the case of NGC 6611 ($\sim$ 1.1). It is found that the presence of circumstellar disks has no influence on the X-ray emission. The X-ray luminosity for both CTTSs and WTTSs is found to decrease systematically with age (in the range $\sim $ 0.4 Myr - 5 Myr). The decrease of the X-ray luminosity of TTSs (slope $\sim$ -0.6) in the case of NGC 1893 seems to be faster than observed in the case of other star-forming regions (slope -0.2 to -0.5). There is indication that the sources having relatively large NIR excess have relatively lower $L_X$ values. TTSs in NGC 1893 do not follow the well established X-ray activity - rotation relation as in the case of main-sequence stars., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, Accepted for publication in New Astronomy

We present a multiwavelength study of W40 star-forming region using IR observations in UKIRT JHK bands, Spitzer IRAC bands & Herschel PACS bands; 2.12 micron H2 narrow-band imaging; & radio observations from GMRT (610 & 1280 MHz), in a FoV of ~34'x40'. Spitzer observations along with NIR observations are used to identify 1162 Class II/III & 40 Class I sources in the FoV. The NN stellar surface density analysis shows that majority of these YSOs constitute the embedded cluster centered on the source IRS1A South. Some YSOs, predominantly younger population, are distributed along & trace the filamentary structures at lower stellar surface density. The cluster radius is obtained as 0.44pc - matching well with the extent of radio emission - with a peak density of 650pc^-2. The JHK data is used to map the extinction which is subsequently used to compute the cloud mass. It has resulted in 126 Msun & 71 Msun for the central cluster & the northern IRS5 region, respectively. H2 narrow-band imaging displays significant emission, which prominently resembles fluorescent emission arising at the borders of dense regions. Radio analysis shows this region as having blister morphology, with the radio peak coinciding with a protostellar source. Free-free emission SED analysis is used to obtain physical parameters of the overall region & the IRS5 sub-region. This multiwavelength scenario is suggestive of star formation having resulted from merging of multiple filaments to form a hub. Star formation seems to have taken place in two successive epochs, with the first epoch traced by the central cluster & the high-mass star(s) - followed by a second epoch which is spreading into the filaments as uncovered by the Class I sources & even younger protostellar sources along the filaments. The IRS5 HII region displays indications of swept-up material which has possibly led to the formation of protostars., Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal

In this paper an extensive survey of the star forming complex Sh2-252 has been undertaken with an aim to explore its hidden young stellar population as well as to understand the structure and star formation history. This complex is composed of five embedded clusters associated with the sub-regions A, C, E, NGC 2175s and Teu 136. Using 2MASS-NIR and Spitzer-IRAC, MIPS photometry we identified 577 young stellar objects (YSOs), of which, 163 are Class I, 400 are Class II and 14 are transition disk YSOs. Spatial distribution of the candidate YSOs shows that they are mostly clustered around the sub-regions in the western half of the complex, suggesting enhanced star formation activity towards its west. Using the spectral energy distribution and optical colour-magnitude diagram based age analyses, we derived probable evolutionary status of the sub-regions of Sh2-252. Our analysis shows that the region A is the youngest (~ 0.5 Myr), the regions B, C and E are of similar evolutionary stage (~ 1-2 Myr) and the clusters NGC 2175s and Teu 136 are slightly evolved (~ 2-3 Myr). Morphology of the region in the 1.1 mm map shows a semi-circular shaped molecular shell composed of several clumps and YSOs bordering the western ionization front of Sh2-252. Our analyses suggest that next generation star formation is currently under way along this border and that possibly fragmentation of the matter collected during the expansion of the HII region as one of the major processes responsible for such stars. We observed the densest concentration of YSOs (mostly Class I, ~ 0.5 Myr) at the western outskirts of the complex, within a molecular clump associated with water and methanol masers and we suggest that it is indeed a site of cluster formation at a very early evolutionary stage, sandwiched between the two relatively evolved CHII regions A and B., Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS