| Authors: | B. Lim 1,2, J. Hong 2, J. Lee 2, and 3 co-authors |
| Affiliations: | (1) Department of Earth Science Education, Kongju National University, Gongju-si, Chungcheongnam-do, Republic of Korea; (2) Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, Republic of Korea |
| Accepted by: | Astronomical Journal |
| URL: | https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023arXiv230706557L/abstract |
The star-forming region W5 is a major part of the Cassiopeia OB6 association. Its internal structure and kinematics may provide hints of the star formation process in this region. Here, we present a kinematic study of young stars in W5 using the Gaia data and our radial velocity data. A total 490 out of 2,000 young stars are confirmed as members. Their spatial distribution shows that W5 is highly substructured. We identify a total of eight groups using the k-means clustering algorithm. There are three dense groups in the cavities of H II bubbles, and the other five sparse groups are distributed at the ridge of the bubbles. The three dense groups have almost the same ages (5 Myr) and show a pattern of expansion. The scale of their expansion is not large enough to account for the overall structure of W5. The three northern groups are, in fact, 3 Myr younger than the dense groups, which indicates the independent star formation events. Only one group of them shows the signature of feedback-driven star formation as its members move away from the eastern dense group. The other two groups might have formed in a spontaneous way. On the other hand, the properties of two southern groups are not understood as those of a coeval population. Their origins can be explained by dynamical ejection of stars and multiple star formation. Our results suggest that the substructures in W5 formed through multiple star-forming events in a giant molecular cloud.
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