This award will support a detailed study of the young, relatively nearby stellar cluster Cep OB3. This cluster is one of the only two massive clusters near the Sun. The cluster is found in a large cavity cleared in the parental molecular cloud, indicating that the Cep OB3b is a rare example of a massive cluster at the later stages of gas dispersal. This project will support ground-based observations and numerical simulations needed to understand the age, dynamics and evolution of this massive young cluster. The first goal of this project is to assess whether massive young clusters such as Cep OB3b can survive gas dispersal and evolve into bound open clusters. The second goal is to study emission from regions of circumstellar disks, in order to examine the impact of radiation from the central star and from the local environment on the structure and survivability of these disks.
This project will assist the training of graduate and undergraduate students. The research team plans to create an easily-available database on Cep OB3b, which may facilitate future studies of this region. This and other studies of star formation in massive clusters will help astronomers understand the possible diversity of planetary systems in our galaxy and to understand the conditions that led to our own solar system.
