Investigation of the stellar content in the IRAS 05168+3634 star-forming region

Abstract

Aims. We report the investigation results of the structure and content of a molecular cloud surrounding the source IRAS 05168+3634 (also known as Mol 9). Methods. We present a photometric analysis using the data of J, H, K UKIDSS, [3.6], [4.5] μm Spitzer-IRAC and 3.4, 4.6, 12, 22 μm WISE databases. A multi-color criteria was used to identify the candidates of young stellar objects (YSOs) in the molecular cloud; in addition to IRAS 05168+3634, there are four IRAS sources embedded in the same molecular cloud. Color–magnitude diagrams and the K luminosity function (KLF) were used to determine the basic parameters of stellar objects (spectral classes, masses, ages). To study the YSOs with longer wavelength photometry the radiative transfer models were used. Results. Based on color–color and color–magnitude diagrams, we identified a rich population of embedded YSO candidates with infrared excess (Class 0/I and Class II) and their characteristics in a quite large molecular cloud located in a region of 24 arcmin radius. The molecular cloud includes 240 candidates of YSOs within the radii of subregions around five IRAS sources. The local distribution of identified YSOs in the molecular cloud frequently shows elongation and subclustering. The observed young subregions and parental molecular cloud morphologies are similar, especially when only the youngest Class I/0 sources are considered. The color–magnitude diagrams of the subregions suggest a very young stellar population. We construct the KLF of the subregions except for the IRAS 05162+3639 region and it shows unusually low values for α slope: 0.12–0.21. According to the values of the slopes of the KLFs, the age of the subregions can be estimated at 0.1–3 Myr. The spectral energy distributions (SEDs) are constructed for 45 Class I and 75 Class II evolutionary stage YSOs and the received parameters of these YSOs are well correlated with the results obtained by other methods. According to the results of SED fitting tool, the sources IRAS 05184+3635, IRAS 05177+3636, and IRAS 05162+3639 can be classified as Class I evolutionary stage objects. IRAS 05168+3634 and IRAS 05156+3643 can be classified as flat-spectrum objects.