Stellar kinematics in the IC 348 cluster

Abstract

In 30 - 40s of the last century Viktor Ambartsumian has published several studies on the kinematics and dynamics of stellar systems. The scientific issues of these papers not only remain relevant up to nowadays, but also are of key importance for the construction of the generalized theory of star formation. The launch of the Gaia spacecraft on December 19, 2013, opens up new horizons in the study of young stellar systems origin and evolution. The accuracy of astrometric measurements (the typical uncertainty is about 0.04 - 0.7 mas for the positions and parallaxes, and about 0.05 - 1.2 mas yr-1 for the proper motions), undoubtedly, will allow lifting the possibilities of study the kinematics and dynamics of star-forming regions to a new level. We focus our present research on the young (∼ 2 - 3Myr) stellar cluster IC 348. It has a complex structure, which includes the older compact core and the younger subgroup in the vicinity of HH 211 outflow. Based on the Gaia DR2 data, we considered the kinematic properties of both the cluster as a whole and its subgroups. We found that special velocity dispersion significantly exceeds the virial velocity dispersion and, therefore, the IC 348 stellar cluster is a supervirial or gravitationally unbound system.