Stellar Systems Group

Elías, F.; Cabrera-Caño, J.; Alfaro, E. J.
The Astronomical Journal, Volume 131, Issue 5, pp. 2700-2709.
06/2006

ABSTRACT

We present a newly developed, three-dimensional spatial classification method, designed to analyze the spatial distribution of early-type stars within the 1 kpc sphere around the Sun. We propose a distribution model formed by two intersecting disks, the Gould Belt (GB) and the local Galactic disk (LGD), defined by their fundamental geometric parameters. Then, using a sample of about 550 stars of spectral types earlier than B6 and luminosity classes between III and V, with precise photometric distances of less than 1 kpc, we estimate for some spectral groups the parameters of our model, as well as single-membership probabilities of GB and LGD stars, thus drawing a picture of the spatial distribution of young stars in the vicinity of the Sun.