A study of the spatial stellar mass distribution in some young open clusters.

The stellar spatial distribution is studied as a function of mass in 11 young open clusters. In seven of these clusters, mass segregation is observed. The possibility of two cluster centers for NGC 2264 is discussed. It is found that the mass segregation may by due to star formation. It is suggested that the observed mass segregation in open clusters older than some million years might be due to a combination of both initial star formation conditions and dynamical evolutionary processes, whereas only initial star formation conditions are responsible for mass segregation in younger clusters.