Candidate X-Ray-emitting OB Stars in MYStIX Massive Star-forming Regions

Abstract

Abstract Massive O-type and early B-type (OB) stars in the nearby Galaxy remain incompletely cataloged due to high extinction, bright visible and infrared nebular emission in H ii regions, and high field star contamination. These difficulties are alleviated by restricting the search to stars with X-ray emission. Using the X-ray point sources from the Massive Young Star-forming Complex Study in Infrared and X-Rays (MYStIX) survey of OB-dominated regions, we identify 98 MYStIX candidate OB (MOBc) stars by fitting their 1–8 μm spectral energy distributions (SEDs) with reddened stellar atmosphere models. We identify 27 additional MOBc stars based on JHK S photometry of X-ray stars lacking SED fitting. These candidate OB stars indicate that the current census of stars earlier than B1, taken across the 18 MYStIX regions studied, is less than 50% complete. We also fit the SEDs of 239 previously published OB stars to measure interstellar extinction and bolometric luminosities, revealing six candidate massive binary systems and five candidate O-type (super)giants. As expected, candidate OB stars have systematically higher extinction than previously published OB stars. Notable results for individual regions include identification of the OB population of a recently discovered massive cluster in NGC 6357, an older OB association in the M17 complex, and new massive luminous O stars near the Trifid Nebula. In several relatively poorly studied regions (RCW 38, NGC 6334, NGC 6357, Trifid, and NGC 3576), the OB populations may increase by factors of .