Uncovering a 260 pc wide, 35-Myr-old filamentary relic of star formation

Abstract

ABSTRACT Several recent studies have shown that the Vela OB2 region hosts a complex constellation of sub-populations with ages in the range 10 to 50 Myr. Such populations might represent the best example of the outcome of clustered star formation in giant molecular clouds (GMCs). We use Gaia DR2 data over an area of 40 deg radius around the open cluster Collinder 135 to extend the study of the stellar populations of the Vela OB2 region over an area of several hundreds of parsecs on sky. Detailed clustering algorithms combined with the exquisite astrometric quality of the Gaia catalogue allow us to detect a new cluster named BBJ 1 that shows the same age as NGC 2547 (30 to 35 Myr), but located at a distance of 260 pc from it. Deeper investigation of the region via clustering in 5D parameter space and in the colour–magnitude diagram allows us to detect a filamentary structure of stars that bridges the two clusters. Given the extent in space of such structure (260 pc) and the young age (∼35 Myr), we exclude that such population originates by the same mechanism responsible to create tidal streams around older clusters. Even if we miss a complete picture of the 3D motion of the studied stellar structure because of the lack of accurate radial velocity measurements, we propose that such structure represents the detection of a 35-Myr-old outcome of a mechanism of filamentary star formation in a GMC.