File:IRAS 20050+2720 (2MASS).jpg

English: The embedded young star cluster IRAS 20050+2720, the bright agglomeration of stars near the center of the 2MASS three-color image. This cluster has been recently studied by Chen et al. (1997, ApJ, 475, 163). The cluster appears to consist of several subclusterings, three of which were studied by Chen et al.; there appear to be several other subclusterings not included in their near-IR imaging. The IRAS source itself is the brightest, reddest southern subclustering ("Subcluster A"). Some reflection nebulosity is associated with the cluster stars. Chen et al. find an extinction to the cluster of AV ~ 10, although the extinction is clearly higher for subcluster A. (It is also clear from the 2MASS image that significant extinction is distributed throughout this field.) More than half of the point sources in the cluster appear to show an infrared excess beyond this extinction, indicating that we may be seeing thermal dust emission from circumstellar disks around classical T Tauri stars. These sources are therefore likely pre-main sequence objects. Chen et al. find that the slope and turnover of the K-band luminosity function imply an overall age for this cluster of ~1 Myr, although the subclusters are of somewhat different ages. The IRAS source "subcluster A" is also associated with dense molecular gas as traced by millimeter radio observations and coincides with the center of a multipolar outflow with a dynamical age of only 10³ to 10⁴ yr.