W40 Star-Forming Region: Chandra X-Ray Point Source Catalog

The W40 H II region, one of the nearest massive star-forming regions, was observed by the Chandra X-ray Observatory's ACIS detector. NASA HEASARC created this catalog in March 2011, containing 225 X-ray sources, with 85% confidently identified as young stellar members. The data supports analysis of cluster properties like morphology, mass segregation, and distance estimates of 260 pc or 600 pc.

Use Cases

• Identify and classify young stellar objects based on X-ray source detections.
• Analyze cluster morphology and density profiles based on the described spherical shape and isothermal sphere profile.
• Study mass segregation and stellar population down to 1.5 solar masses as indicated in the description.
• Investigate spatial variation in obscuration and star formation activity linked to the identified dust lane.
• Model X-ray luminosity functions to constrain cluster distance and total population estimates.

Strengths

• Contains 225 X-ray point sources with high-confidence labels, as 85% are identified as young stellar members.
• Derived from observations by the Chandra X-ray Observatory, a premier space telescope.
• Includes analysis of two potential cluster distances (260 pc and 600 pc) and estimates of a total population of at least 600 stars.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is from 2011, though the metadata shows a future last updated date; freshness should be verified.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA HEASARC)

Collection Method

Observational data from the ACIS detector on the Chandra X-ray Observatory, processed into a catalog from electronic tables in the reference paper.

Time Range

Observation date not specified; catalog created March 2011.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 19:08:11.285160; freshness should be verified.

Geography

The W40 H II region in space.