Identifying Candidate Young Stellar Objects in the Spider Nebula (IC 417) Using Archival Visible and Infrared Data

The Spider Nebula (IC 417) is a star-forming region about 2.3 kpc away, roughly in the direction of the Galactic anti-center. If star formation there is significantly different from star formation elsewhere (e.g, in denser regions closer to the inner Galaxy), the initial mass function might be different in this region. In order to explore this idea, we are working towards an inventory of the cluster members. We assembled a list of possible IC 417 members from the literature and from a NITARP 2015 team that began work in this area, selecting sources based on WISE colors. Parts of the IC 417 region have been studied in more detail than others, with one as-yet neglected region referred to as the "Nebulous Stream" (NS; Jose et al. 2008). The NS has a complex, almost 'braided' nebulosity in IRAC bands 1 and 2, with many red sources that are possible young stellar objects (YSOs) apparently embedded within it. We selected candidate members of the NS based on projected position. To create a merged list of literature+NS sources, we assembled literature photometry from the optical through the mid-IR, including data released since the 2015 NITARP team worked in this region, most notably Gaia DR2 and PanSTARRS. For the merged list of ~650 candidate and literature YSOs, we inspected images to assure correct source matching across bands, constructed spectral energy distributions (SEDs), and inspected color-color and color-magnitude diagrams to refine the list down to the sources that are most likely to be YSOs. This poster presents our current list of YSOs and candidate YSOs. This research was made possible through the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program (NITARP) and was funded by NASA Astrophysics Data Program.