S254-S258: Chandra X-Ray Catalog of Young Stars in a Star-Forming Region

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory catalog of 364 point sources in the S254-S258 star-forming complex, observed in November 2009. The catalog provides a complete sample of young stars down to about 0.5 solar masses across an 8x8 parsec field. The study identified three stellar clusters and a widely scattered population of young stars, suggesting a total population of ~2000 young stars in the region.

Use Cases

• Identify and classify young stellar populations based on X-ray point source detections.
• Perform clustering analysis of star-forming regions based on the identified clusters S255-IR, S256, and S258.
• Compare X-ray luminosity functions with other regions like the Orion Nebula Cluster.
• Study the distribution of non-clustered young stars versus those in embedded clusters.
• Analyze the correlation between X-ray sources and infrared excesses for star identification.

Strengths

• Deep Chandra observation with a total net exposure time of 74,725 seconds (20.76 hours).
• Catalog of 364 X-ray point sources providing a complete sample down to ~0.5 solar masses.
• Observation covers a 17' x 17' field, corresponding to 7.9 x 7.9 parsecs at the target's 1.6 kpc distance.
• Analysis includes source detection in three energy bands (0.5-8.0 keV, 0.5-2.0 keV, 2.0-8.0 keV).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect observational bias inherent to the specific Chandra instrument and detection thresholds.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Deep Chandra X-ray observation using the ACIS-I instrument, processed with wavdetect and ACIS Extract software.

Time Range

Observation performed in November 2009.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 19:12:57.945891; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Aimpoint at RA(J2000) = 06h12m54.0s, Dec(J2000) = +17d 59' 24" in the S254-S258 star-forming complex.