A Complete Spectroscopic and
Imaging Suvery of Giant Molecular Clouds
Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs) are the
dominant sites of star formation in the Galaxy, yet the nature and distribution
of their young stellar content has yet to be thoroughly or systematically
investigated due to the large distances to and large angular sizes of the
clouds. We are using the world’s first near-IR multi-object spectrometer
called FLAMINGOS,
on the Kitt Peak 2.1-m and 4-m telescopes to obtain sensitive near-IR imaging
surveys and for the first time extensive near-IR spectral classifications
for stars in GMCs. The goals of this survey are to determine the
number and spatial extent of young stars in the clouds and to measure their
ages and masses. The data will also be used to study the inital mass function
and to address such fundamental issues as the variations of star formation
efficiency and rate from cloud to cloud, the formation of clusters and
sequential star formation.
Recent
Images
GMC
Targets
Observing
and Data Reduction Logs
Team
Members