2006/10/05 by D. Froebrich, A. Scholz, C. L. Raftery · 10 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Cluster (spacecraft) #Galactic plane #Galaxy #Galaxy merger #Globular cluster #Intergalactic star #Open cluster #Physics #Sky #Star (game theory) #Star cluster #Star count #Star formation #Stars #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #T Tauri star #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.11148.x
31 pages, 7 Figures, 3 Tables, Accepted for publication by MNRAS, A version with higher resolution figures can be found at http://astro.kent.ac.uk/~df/
arxiv created 2006/10/05 · openalex publication_date 2006/11/21 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We used star density maps obtained from the Two-Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) to obtain a sample of star clusters in the entire Galactic Plane with |b| < 20°. A total of 1788 star cluster candidates are identified in this survey. Among those are 681 previously known open clusters and 86 globular clusters. A statistical analysis indicates that our sample of 1021 new cluster candidates has a contamination of about 50 per cent. Star cluster parameters are obtained by fitting a King profile to the star density. These parameters are used to statistically identify probable new globular cluster candidates in our sample. A detailed investigation of the projected distribution of star clusters in the Galaxy demonstrates that they show a clear tendency to cluster on spatial scales in the order of 12–25 pc, a typical size for molecular clouds.