On the spatial distribution of pre-main-sequence stars in Taurus

Abstract

Several different statistical analysis techniques are applied in order to derive characteristic properties of the nonrandom spatial distribution of premain-sequence stars in the Taurus-Auriga molecular cloud. According to the two-point angular correlation function and the nearest-neighbor analysis, the premain-sequence stars in Taurus are not randomly distributed. A power law form for the two-point angular correlation function reproduces the overall shape of the actual premain-sequence distribution in Taurus, indicating the existence of real clustering in the T Tauri distribution. The nearest-neighbor distribution itself is very strongly skewed toward small stellar separation, suggesting that close neighbors may be a typical part of star formation even in low-density molecular clouds. The radii, ages, and velocity dispersions of the groups in Taurus have also been determined. The simple grid technique and the kernel method have also been used as part of the statistical analysis techniques.