SCYON Abstract

Received on January 10 2001

NIR Observations of Young Stellar Clusters in the Perseus Arm

Authors	A. Porras¹, I. Cruz-González², L. Salas³
Affiliation	¹Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Optica y Electrónica, Apdo. Postal 216, Puebla, Pue. 72000, México. ²Instituto de Astronomía, UNAM, Apdo. Postal 70-264, C.U., México, D.F. 04510, México. ³Instituto de Astronomía, UNAM, Apdo. Postal 877, Ensenada, B.C. 22830, México.
Accepted by	Star Formation from the Small to the Large Scale, ESA SP-445, F. Favata, A.A. Kaas & A. Wilson eds.
Contact	aporras@inaoep.mx
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Abstract

We present NIR photometric observations of a sample of 10 young stellar clusters (YSCs) located along the Perseus Arm, that constitute a subsample of ~45 YSCs in our complete sample. J-H/H-K and J/J-H diagrams are used to reveal their interstellar extinction and richness of PMS stars. Masses are estimated following the method by Meyer 1996, together with Carpenter et al. 1993 empirical relations for WTTS, CTTS and Ae/Be stars. Statistical analysis of the variations in the IMF slope values (Gamma = d log Phi (log M) / d log M ) and comparison with the Salpeter value, Gamma = -1.35 (Salpeter 1955), are discussed. A classification of the YSCs based on stellar density and massive star content, and the possible implications on IMF differences are addressed.