Finding Hidden Star Clusters Using the WISE

  • Ryu, Jin-Hyuk (Astronomy Program, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University) ;
  • Lee, Jae-Hyung (Astronomy Program, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University) ;
  • Lee, Myung-Gyoon (Astronomy Program, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University)
  • Published : 2012.04.03

Abstract

We present a survey for finding hidden star clusters using the WISE data. There are more than two thousand star clusters in the current catalogs of star clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy. However, there are still numerous star clusters remaining to be discovered, especially, along the Milky Way. The WISE, NIR to MIR all sky survey, is an efficient source to find star clusters obscured by dust along the Milky Way. Taking the advantage of the power of WISE, we survey a wide area at ${\mid}l{\mid}<30^{\circ}$ and ${\mid}b{\mid}<6^{\circ}$, toward to the central region of the Milky Way to find new star clusters. To find cluster candidates, we used two kinds of method: the visual inspection and the brightness density investigation. We will report the progress of this survey.

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