Specific Star Forming Regions -- Poster Presentation
Identifying primordial substructure in NGC 2264 with Spitzer
Paula Stella Teixeira, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Charles Lada (CfA), Erick Young (Steward Observatory, University of Arizona), Massimo Marengo (CfA)
We present new results on the massive young cluster NGC 2264
based on the analysis of data acquired from the Spitzer Space Telescope.
The MIPS (Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer) has enabled us to
identify the most recent episodes of star formation in NGC 2264. In
particular, the 24 micron data combined with submillimeter observations
from Wolf-Chase (2003) indicate that the most recent star formation
events have occurred primarily within dusty filaments of dense gas in
the central regions of the complex. These observations provide interesting
constrains for theoretical models of collapsing molecular clouds.
Additional IRAC (Infrared Array Camera) and near-infrared JHK 2MASS data
has enabled us to assemble spectral energy distributions which help
elucidate the natures of the deeply embedded sources and confirm their
extreme youth and status as protostellar objects.