Young Stars Towards the CO Cepheus Void
Abstract
Once mixed in the galactic plane stellar population, young stars are virtually indiscernible from older ones. In the RasTyc sample, we nevertheless discovered 4 lithium-rich field stars that are located within a few degrees from each other on the celestial sphere and near the Cepheus-Cassiopeia complex. They form a homogeneous group of T Tauri stars. To discover some new comoving companions, we selected optical counterparts of ROSAT All-Sky Survey X-ray sources cross-identified with late-type stars around these 4 young stars thanks to multivariate analysis methods. Our recent intermediate- and high-resolution spectroscopic observations of this sample allowed us to discover additional lithium-rich sources. From the analysis of their spectra, we found that 6 of our young star candidates have similar physical and kinematical properties as those of the 4 comoving T Tauri stars. Moreover they are all located inside or close to the CO Cepheus void. They have properties rather similar to those of members of the TW Hydrae association, although they are slightly older and placed in the northern hemisphere. These young stars in the field are of great importance to give new insight into the process of stellar formation outside standard star-forming regions.
- Publication:
-
Stellar Clusters & Associations: A RIA Workshop on Gaia
- Pub Date:
- 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011sca..conf..365K