Disentangling the spatial substructure of Cygnus OB2 from Gaia DR2

Wright

Abstract

For the first time, we have explored the spatial substructure of the Cygnus OB2 association using parallaxes from the recent second Gaia data release. We find significant line-of-sight substructure within the association, which we quantify using a parametrized model that reproduces the observed parallax distribution. This inference approach is necessary due to the non-linearity of the parallax distance transformation and the asymmetry of the resulting probability distribution. Using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo ensemble sampler and an unbinned maximum likelihood test, we identify two different stellar groups superposed on the association. We find the main Cygnus OB2 group at ~1760 pc, further away than recent estimates have envisaged, and a foreground group at ~1350 pc. We also calculate individual membership probabilities and identify outliers as possible non-members of the association.

Citation

Wright. (2019). Disentangling the spatial substructure of Cygnus OB2 from Gaia DR2. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 1838 -1842. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz117

• Acceptance Date: Jan 9, 2019
• Publication Date: Apr 1, 2019
• Journal: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
• Print ISSN: 0035-8711
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Pages: 1838 -1842
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz117
• Keywords: astrometry, parallaxes, stars: distances, stars: early-type, stars: massive, open clusters and associations: individual: Cygnus OB2
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz117