Variations in the mass functions of clustered and isolated young stellar objects

Abstract

We analyze high-quality, complete stellar catalogs for four young (roughly 1Myr) and nearby (within ∼ 300pc) star-forming regions: Taurus, Lupus3, ChaI, and IC348, which have been previously shown to have stellar groups whose properties are similar to those of larger clusters such as the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC). We find that stars at higher stellar surface densities within a region or belonging to groups tend to have a relative excess of more massive stars, over a wide range of masses. We find statistically significant evidence for this result in Taurus and IC348 as well as in the ONC. These differences correspond to having typically a ∼10%-20% higher mean mass in the more clustered environment. Stars in ChaI show no evidence for a trend with either surface density or grouped status, and there are too few stars in Lupus3 to make any definitive interpretation. Models of clustered star formation do not typically extend to sufficiently low masses or small group sizes in order for their predictions to be tested, but our results suggest that this regime is important to consider. © 2012. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.