Scott Dahm (Keck)

Embedded Clusters and Pre-Main Sequence Populations 


Most stars form in embedded clusters, which then disperse over time
into the galactic field star population. Only the most massive young
clusters will survive to the age of the Pleiades and beyond. Here we
focus on one intermediate mass cluster, NGC 7129, and its emerging
stellar population. We discuss the techniques used to identify
pre-main sequence stars and examine disk evolutionary timescales. We
conclude with a short discussion of two cluster projects currently
underway at W. M. Keck Observatory using MOSFIRE, a near infrared
multi-object spectrograph.