Massive Clusters and OB Associations as Output of Massive Star Formation in <i>Gaia</i> Era

Over the past two decades, our understanding of star formation has undergone a major shift, driven by a wealth of data from infrared, submillimeter and radio surveys. The emerging view depicts star formation as a hierarchical process, which predominantly occurs along filamentary structures in the in...

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Main Author: Ignacio Negueruela
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Universe
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/11/1/20
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author Ignacio Negueruela
author_facet Ignacio Negueruela
author_sort Ignacio Negueruela
collection DOAJ
description Over the past two decades, our understanding of star formation has undergone a major shift, driven by a wealth of data from infrared, submillimeter and radio surveys. The emerging view depicts star formation as a hierarchical process, which predominantly occurs along filamentary structures in the interstellar medium. These structures span a wide range of spatial scales, ultimately leading to the birth of young stars, which distribute in small groups, clusters and OB associations. Given the inherently complex and dynamic nature of star formation, a comprehensive understanding of these processes can only be achieved by examining their end products—namely, the distribution and properties of young stellar populations. In the <i>Gaia</i> era, the nearby OB associations are now characterised with unprecedented detail, allowing for a robust understanding of their formation histories. Nevertheless, to fully grasp the mechanisms of star formation and its typical scale, it is essential to study the much larger associations, which constitute the backbones of spiral arms. The large catalogues of young open clusters that have emerged from <i>Gaia</i> DR3 offer a valuable resource for investigating star formation on larger spatial scales. While the cluster parameters listed in these catalogues are still subject to many uncertainties and systematic errors, ongoing improvements in data analysis and upcoming <i>Gaia</i> releases promise to enhance the accuracy and reliability of these measurements. This review aims to provide a comprehensive summary of recent advancements and a critical assessment of the datasets available.
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spelling doaj-art-782df0bfb29f4ade9700e4218e1d08e52025-01-24T13:51:30ZengMDPI AGUniverse2218-19972025-01-011112010.3390/universe11010020Massive Clusters and OB Associations as Output of Massive Star Formation in <i>Gaia</i> EraIgnacio Negueruela0Departamento de Física Aplicada, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Alicante, Carretera de San Vicente s/n, E-03690 San Vicente del Raspeig, SpainOver the past two decades, our understanding of star formation has undergone a major shift, driven by a wealth of data from infrared, submillimeter and radio surveys. The emerging view depicts star formation as a hierarchical process, which predominantly occurs along filamentary structures in the interstellar medium. These structures span a wide range of spatial scales, ultimately leading to the birth of young stars, which distribute in small groups, clusters and OB associations. Given the inherently complex and dynamic nature of star formation, a comprehensive understanding of these processes can only be achieved by examining their end products—namely, the distribution and properties of young stellar populations. In the <i>Gaia</i> era, the nearby OB associations are now characterised with unprecedented detail, allowing for a robust understanding of their formation histories. Nevertheless, to fully grasp the mechanisms of star formation and its typical scale, it is essential to study the much larger associations, which constitute the backbones of spiral arms. The large catalogues of young open clusters that have emerged from <i>Gaia</i> DR3 offer a valuable resource for investigating star formation on larger spatial scales. While the cluster parameters listed in these catalogues are still subject to many uncertainties and systematic errors, ongoing improvements in data analysis and upcoming <i>Gaia</i> releases promise to enhance the accuracy and reliability of these measurements. This review aims to provide a comprehensive summary of recent advancements and a critical assessment of the datasets available.https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/11/1/20star clustersstar formationopen clusters and associationsmilky waydata mining
spellingShingle Ignacio Negueruela
Massive Clusters and OB Associations as Output of Massive Star Formation in <i>Gaia</i> Era
Universe
star clusters
star formation
open clusters and associations
milky way
data mining
title Massive Clusters and OB Associations as Output of Massive Star Formation in <i>Gaia</i> Era
title_full Massive Clusters and OB Associations as Output of Massive Star Formation in <i>Gaia</i> Era
title_fullStr Massive Clusters and OB Associations as Output of Massive Star Formation in <i>Gaia</i> Era
title_full_unstemmed Massive Clusters and OB Associations as Output of Massive Star Formation in <i>Gaia</i> Era
title_short Massive Clusters and OB Associations as Output of Massive Star Formation in <i>Gaia</i> Era
title_sort massive clusters and ob associations as output of massive star formation in i gaia i era
topic star clusters
star formation
open clusters and associations
milky way
data mining
url https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/11/1/20
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