Cygnus OB2 Association Research Articles

Hydrodynamic simulation of Cygnus OB2: the absence of a cluster wind termination shock

ABSTRACT We perform a large-scale hydrodynamic simulation of a massive star cluster whose stellar population mimics that of the Cygnus OB2 association. The main-sequence stars are first simulated during 1.6 Myr, until a quasi-stationary state is reached. At this time, the three Wolf–Rayet stars observed in Cygnus OB2 are added to the simulation, which continues to 2 Myr. Using a high-resolution grid in the centre of the domain, we can resolve the most massive stars individually, which allows us to probe the kinetic structures at small (parsec) scales. We find that, although the cluster excavates a spherical ‘superbubble’ cavity, the stellar population is too loosely distributed to blow a large-scale cluster wind termination shock, and that collective effects from wind–wind interactions are much less efficient than usually assumed. This challenges our understanding of the ultra-high energy emission observed from the region.

CO Mapping of Cygnus-X—Volume Density Distribution

We present CO(2-1) and 13CO(2-1) maps of the Cygnus-X molecular cloud complex using the 10 m Heinrich Hertz Submillimeter Telescope. The maps cover the southern portion of the complex, which is strongly impacted by the feedback from the Cygnus OB2 association. Combining CO(1-0) and 13CO(1-0) maps from the Nobeyama 45 m Cygnus-X CO Survey, we carry out a multitransition molecular line analysis with RADEX and derive the volume density of velocity-coherent gas components. We select those components with a column density in the power-law tail part of the column density probability distribution function (N-PDF) and assemble their volume density into a volume density PDF (ρ-PDF). The ρ-PDF exhibits a power-law shape in the range of 104.5 cm−3 105.5 cm−3 with a fitted slope of α = −1.12 ± 0.05. The slope is shallower than what is predicted by simulations of rotationally supported structures or those undergoing gravitational collapse. Applying the same analysis to synthetic observations with feedback may help identify the cause of the shallow slope. The ρ-PDF provides another useful benchmark for testing models of molecular cloud formation and evolution.

Classification of Chandra X-Ray Sources in Cygnus OB2

We have devised a predominantly Naive Bayes−based method to classify X-ray sources detected by Chandra in the Cygnus OB2 association into members, foreground objects, and background objects. We employ a variety of X-ray, optical, and infrared characteristics to construct likelihoods using training sets defined by well-measured sources. Combinations of optical photometry from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (riz) and Isaac Newton Telescope Photometric Hα Survey (r I i I Hα), infrared magnitudes from United Kingdom Infrared Telescope Deep Sky Survey and Two-Micron All Sky Survey (JHK), X-ray quantiles and hardness ratios, and estimates of extinction A v are used to compute the relative probabilities that a given source belongs to one of the classes. Principal component analysis is used to isolate the best axes for separating the classes for the photometric data, and Gaussian component separation is used for X-ray hardness and extinction. Errors in the measurements are accounted for by modeling as Gaussians and integrating over likelihoods approximated as quartic polynomials. We evaluate the accuracy of the classification by inspection and reclassify a number of sources based on infrared magnitudes, the presence of disks, and spectral hardness induced by flaring. We also consider systematic errors due to extinction. Of the 7924 X-ray detections, 5501 have a total of 5597 optical/infrared matches, including 78 with multiple counterparts. We find that ≈6100 objects are likely association members, ≈1400 are background objects, and ≈500 are foreground objects, with an accuracy of 96%, 93%, and 80%, respectively, with an overall classification accuracy of approximately 95%.

The Chandra Cygnus OB2 Legacy Survey: Design and X-Ray Point-source Catalog

The Cygnus OB2 association is the largest concentration of young and massive stars within 2 kpc of the Sun, including an estimated ∼65 O-type stars and hundreds of OB stars. The Chandra Cygnus OB2 Legacy Survey is a large imaging program undertaken with the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer on board the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The survey has imaged the central 0.5 deg2 of the Cyg OB2 association with an effective exposure of ∼120 ks and an outer 0.35 deg2 area with an exposure of ∼60 ks. Here we describe the survey design and observations, discuss the data reduction and source detection, and present a catalog of ∼8000 X-ray point sources. The survey design employs a grid of 36 heavily (∼50%) overlapping pointings, a method that overcomes Chandra's low off-axis sensitivity and produces a highly uniform exposure over the inner 0.5 deg2. The full X-ray catalog is described here and is made available online.

Simulating the Sensitivity to Stellar Point Sources of Chandra X-Ray Observations

The Chandra Cygnus OB2 Legacy Survey is a wide and deep X-ray survey of the nearby and massive Cygnus OB2 association. The survey has detected ∼8000 X-ray sources, the majority of which are pre-main-sequence X-ray-emitting young stars in the association itself. To facilitate quantitative scientific studies of these sources, as well as the underlying OB association, it is important to understand the sensitivity of the observations and the level of completeness the observations have obtained. Here we describe the use of a hierarchical Monte Carlo simulation to achieve this goal by combining the empirical properties of the observations, analytic estimates of the source verification process, and an extensive set of source detection simulations. We find that our survey reaches a 90% completeness level for a pre-main-sequence population at the distance of Cyg OB2 at an X-ray luminosity of 4 × 1030 erg s−1 and a stellar mass of 1.3 M ⊙ for a randomly distributed population. For a spatially clustered population such as Cyg OB2 the 90% completeness level is reached at 1.1 M ⊙ instead, as the sources are more concentrated in areas of our survey with a high exposure. These simulations can easily be adapted for use with other X-ray observations and surveys, and we provide X-ray detection efficiency curves for a very wide array of source and background properties to allow these simulations to be easily exploited by other users.

Diffuse X-Ray Emission in the Cygnus OB2 Association

We present a large-scale study of diffuse X-ray emission in the nearby massive stellar association Cygnus OB2 as part of the Chandra Cygnus OB2 Legacy Program. We used 40 Chandra X-ray ACIS-I observations covering ∼1.0 deg2. After removing 7924 point sources detected in our survey and applying adaptive smoothing to the background-corrected X-ray emission, the adaptive smoothing reveals large-scale diffuse X-ray emission. Diffuse emission was detected in the subbands soft (0.5−1.2 keV) and medium (1.2−2.5 keV) and marginally in the hard (2.5−7.0 keV) band. From X-ray spectral analysis of stacked spectra we compute a total (0.5–7.0 keV) diffuse X-ray luminosity of 4.2 × 1034 erg s−1, characterized by plasma temperature components at kT ≈ 0.11, 0.40, and 1.18 keV, respectively. The H i absorption column density corresponding to these temperatures has a distribution consistent with N H = (0.43, 0.80, 1.39) × 1022 cm−2. The extended medium-band energy emission likely arises from O-type stellar winds thermalized by wind−wind collisions in the most populated regions of the association, while the soft-band emission probably arises from less energetic termination shocks against the surrounding interstellar medium. Supersoft and soft diffuse emission appears more widely dispersed and intense than the medium-band emission. The diffuse X-ray emission is generally spatially coincident with low-extinction regions that we attribute to the ubiquitous influence of powerful stellar winds from massive stars and their interaction with the local interstellar medium. Diffuse X-ray emission is volume filling, rather than edge brightened, oppositely to other star-forming regions. We reveal the first observational evidence of X-ray halos around some evolved massive stars.

Optical and Infrared Counterparts of the X-Ray Sources Detected in the Chandra Cygnus OB2 Legacy Survey

The young massive OB association Cygnus OB2, in the Cygnus X complex, is the closest (∼1400 pc) star-forming region to the Sun hosting thousands of young low-mass stars and up to 1000 OB stars, among which are some of the most massive stars known in our Galaxy. This region holds great importance for several fields of modern astrophysics, such as the study of the physical properties of massive and young low-mass stars and the feedback provided by massive stars on star and planet formation processes. Cyg OB2 has been recently observed with Chandra/ACIS-I as part of the 1.08 Ms Chandra Cygnus OB2 Legacy Project. This survey detected 7924 X-ray sources in a square degree area centered on Cyg OB2. Since a proper classification and study of the observed X-ray sources also requires the analysis of their optical and infrared counterparts, we combined a large and deep set of optical and infrared catalogs available for this region with our new X-ray catalog. In this paper we describe the matching procedure and present the combined catalog containing 5703 sources. We also briefly discuss the nature of the X-ray sources with optical and infrared counterparts using their position in the color–magnitude and color–color diagrams.

Star formation in two irradiated globules around Cygnus OB2

Context. The ultraviolet irradiation and the action of stellar winds of newly formed massive stars on their parental molecular environment often produces isolated or small clouds, some of which become sites of star formation themselves. Aims. We investigate the young stellar populations associated with DR 18 and ECX 6-21, which are two isolated globules irradiated by the O-type stars of the Cygnus OB2 association. Both are HII regions containing obvious tracers of recent and ongoing star formation. We also study smaller isolated molecular structures in their surroundings. Methods. We combined near-infrared broad- and narrow-band imaging with broad-band imaging in the visible and with archive images obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope. We used the joint photometry to select young stellar objects (YSOs), simultaneously estimating their intrinsic properties and classifying them according to the characteristics of their infrared excess. We also present low-resolution visible spectroscopy of selected sources. Results. We reproduce previous findings of an extended population of YSOs around both globules, dominated by the more evolved classes, associated with the general Cygnus OB2 population. Both globules contain their own embedded populations, with a higher fraction of the less-evolved classes. Masses and temperatures are estimated under the assumption of a common age of 1 Myr, which has been found to appropriately represent the general Cygnus OB2 YSO population but is most probably an overestimate for both globules, especially ECX 6-21. The early-B star responsible for the erosion of DR 18 is found to be part of a small aggregate of intermediate-mass stars still embedded in the cloud, which probably contains a second site of recent star formation, also with intermediate-mass stars. We confirm the two main star forming sites embedded in ECX 6-21 described in previous works, with the southern site being more evolved than the northern site. We also discuss the small globule ECX 6-21-W (=G79.8 + 1.2), and propose that its non thermal radio spectrum is due to synchrotron emission from an embedded jet, whose existence is suggested by our observations. Conclusions. The extreme youth of some of the YSOs suggests that star formation in both globules started after they became externally irradiated. The populations of both globules are not found to be particularly rich, but they contain stars with estimated masses similar or above that of the Sun in numbers that hint at some differences with respect to the star formation process taking place in more quiescent regions where low-mass stars dominate, which deeper observations may confirm.

The nature of the Cygnus extreme B supergiant 2MASS J20395358+4222505

ABSTRACT 2MASS J20395358+4222505 is an obscured early B supergiant near the massive OB star association Cygnus OB2. Despite its bright infrared magnitude (Ks = 5.82) it has remained largely ignored because of its dim optical magnitude (B = 16.63, V = 13.68). In a previous paper, we classified it as a highly reddened, potentially extremely luminous, early B-type supergiant. We obtained its spectrum in the U, B and R spectral bands during commissioning observations with the instrument MEGARA at the Gran Telescopio CANARIAS. It displays a particularly strong Hα emission for its spectral type, B1 Ia. The star seems to be in an intermediate phase between supergiant and hypergiant, a group that it will probably join in the near (astronomical) future. We observe a radial velocity difference between individual observations and determine the stellar parameters, obtaining Teff = 24 000 K and log gc = 2.88 ± 0.15. The rotational velocity found is large for a B supergiant, $v$ sin i = 110 ± 25 $\rm km\, s^{-1}$. The abundance pattern is consistent with solar, with a mild C underabundance (based on a single line). Assuming that J20395358+4222505 is at the distance of Cyg OB2, we derive the radius from infrared photometry, finding R = 41.2 ± 4.0 R⊙, log(L/L⊙) = 5.71 ± 0.04 and a spectroscopic mass of 46.5 ± 15.0 M⊙. The clumped mass-loss rate (clumping factor 10) is very high for the spectral type, $\dot{M}$ = 2.4 × 10−6 M⊙ a−1. The high rotational velocity and mass-loss rate place the star at the hot side of the bi-stability jump. Together with the nearly solar CNO abundance pattern, they may also point to evolution in a binary system, J20395358+4222505 being the initial secondary.

A High Angular Resolution Survey of Massive Stars in Cygnus OB2: JHK Adaptive Optics Results from the Gemini Near-Infrared Imager

Abstract We present results of a high angular resolution survey of massive OB stars in the Cygnus OB2 association that we conducted with the Near-Infrared Imager camera and ALTAIR adaptive optics system of the Gemini North telescope. We observed 74 O- and early-B-type stars in Cyg OB2 in the JHK infrared bands in order to detect binary and multiple companions. The observations are sensitive to equal-brightness pairs at separations as small as , and progressively fainter companions are detectable out to mag at a separation of 2″. This faint contrast limit due to read noise continues out to 10″ near the edge of the detector. We assigned a simple probability of chance alignment to each companion based upon its separation and magnitude difference from the central target star and upon areal star counts for the general star field of Cyg OB2. Companion stars with a field membership probability of less than 1% are assumed to be physical companions. This assessment indicates that 47% of the targets have at least one resolved companion that is probably gravitationally bound. Including known spectroscopic binaries, our sample includes 27 binary, 12 triple, and 9 systems with 4 or more components. These results confirm studies of high-mass stars in other environments that find that massive stars are born with a high-multiplicity fraction. The results are important for the placement of the stars in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram, the interpretation of their spectroscopic analyses, and for future mass determinations through measurement of orbital motion.

Near-infrared time-series photometry in the field of Cygnus OB2 association

We present the results of a J, H, and K photometric variability survey of the central 0.78 square degrees of the young OB association Cygnus OB2. We used data observed with the Wide-Field CAMera at the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope in 2007 (spanning 217 days) to investigate the light curves of 5083 low mass candidate members in the association and explore the occurrence and main characteristics of their near-infrared variability. We identified 2529 stars (∼50% of the sample) with significant variability with time-scales ranging from days to months. We classified the variable stars into the following three groups according to their light curve morphology: periodic variability (1697 stars), occultation variability (124 stars), and other types of variability (726 stars). We verified that the disk-bearing stars in our sample are significantly more variable in the near-infrared than diskless stars, with a steep increase in the disk-fraction among stars with higher variability amplitude. We investigated the trajectories described by variable stars in the color-space and measured slopes for 335 stars describing linear trajectories. Based on the trajectories in the color-space, we inferred that the sample analyzed is composed of a mix of young stars presenting variability due to hot and cold spots, extinction by circumstellar material, and changes in the disk emission in the near-infrared. We contemplated using the use of near-infrared variability to identify disk-bearing stars and verified that 53.4% of the known disk-bearing stars in our sample could have been identified as such based solely on their variability. We present 18 newly identified disk-bearing stars and 14 eclipsing binary candidates among CygOB2 lower-mass members.

The velocity structure of Cygnus OB2

ABSTRACT The kinematic structure of the Cygnus OB2 association is investigated. No evidence of expansion or contraction is found at any scale within the region. Stars that are within ∼0.5 pc of one another are found to have more similar velocities than would be expected by random chance, and so it is concluded that velocity substructure exists on these scales. At larger scales velocity substructure is not found. We suggest that bound substructures exist on scales of ∼0.5 pc, despite the region as a whole being unbound. We further suggest that any velocity substructure that existed on scales > 0.5 pc has been erased. The results of this study are then compared to those of other kinematic studies of Cygnus OB2.

COBRaS: The e-MERLIN 21 cm Legacy survey of Cygnus OB2

Context.The role of massive stars is central to an understanding of galactic ecology. It is important to establish the details of how massive stars provide radiative, chemical, and mechanical feedback in galaxies. Central to these issues is an understanding of the evolution of massive stars, and the critical role of mass loss via strongly structured winds and stellar binarity. Ultimately, and acting collectively, massive stellar clusters shape the structure and energetics of galaxies.Aims.We aim to conduct high-resolution, deep field mapping at 21 cm of the core of the massive Cygnus OB2 association and to characterise the properties of the massive stars and colliding winds at this waveband.Methods.We used seven stations of the e-MERLIN radio facility, with its upgraded bandwidth and enhanced sensitivity to conduct a 21 cm census of Cygnus OB2. Based on 42 hours of observations, seven overlapping pointings were employed over multiple epochs during 2014 resulting in 1σsensitivities down to ∼21μJy and a resolution of ∼180 mas.Results.A total of 61 sources are detected at 21 cm over a ∼0.48° × 0.48° region centred on the heart of the Cyg OB2 association. Of these 61 sources, 33 are detected for the first time. We detect a number of previously identified sources including four massive stellar binary systems, two YSOs, and several known X-ray and radio sources. We also detect the LBV candidate (possible binary system) and blue hypergiant star of Cyg OB2 #12.Conclusions.The 21 cm observations secured in the COBRaS Legacy project provide data to constrain conditions in the outer wind regions of massive stars; determine the non-thermal properties of massive interacting binaries; examine evidence for transient sources, including those associated with young stellar objects; and provide unidentified sources that merit follow-up observations. The 21 cm data are of lasting value and will serve in combination with other key surveys of Cyg OB2, includingChandraandSpitzer.

Disentangling the spatial substructure of Cygnus OB2 from Gaia DR2

For the first time, we have explored the spatial substructure of the Cygnus OB2 association using parallaxes from the recent second Gaia data release. We find significant line-of-sight substructure within the association, which we quantify using a parameterised model that reproduces the observed parallax distribution. This inference approach is necessary due to the non-linearity of the parallax-distance transformation and the asymmetry of the resulting probability distribution. By using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo ensemble sampler and an unbinned maximum likelihood test we identify two different stellar groups superposed on the association. We find the main Cygnus OB2 group at ~1760 pc, further away than recent estimates have envisaged, and a foreground group at ~1350 pc. We also calculate individual membership probabilities and identify outliers as possible non-members of the association.

New massive members of Cygnus OB2

Context.The Cygnus complex is one of the most powerful star forming regions at a close distance from the Sun (~1.4 kpc). Its richest OB association Cygnus OB2 is known to harbor many tens of O-type stars and hundreds of B-type stars, providing a large homogeneous population of OB stars that can be analyzed. Many studies of its massive population have been developed in the last decades, although the total number of OB stars is still incomplete.Aim.Our aim is to increase the sample of O and B members of Cygnus OB2 and its surroundings by spectroscopically classifying 61 candidates as possible OB-type members of Cygnus OB2, using new intermediate resolution spectroscopy.Methods.We have obtained intermediate resolution (R ~ 5000) spectra for all of the OB-type candidates between 2013 and 2017. We thus performed a spectral classification of the sample using HeI-II and metal lines rates, as well as the Marxist Ghost Buster (MGB) software for O-type stars and the IACOB standards catalog for B-type stars.Results.From the whole sample of 61 candidates, we have classified 42 stars as new massive OB-type stars, earlier than B3, in Cygnus OB2 and surroundings, including 11 O-type stars. The other candidates are discarded as they display later spectral types inconsistent with membership in the association. We have also obtained visual extinctions for all the new confirmed massive OB members, placing them in a Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram using calibrations forTeffand luminosity. Finally, we have studied the age and extinction distribution of our sample within the region.Conclusions.We have obtained new blue intermediate-resolution spectra suitable for spectral classification of 61 OB candidates in Cygnus OB2 and surroundings. The confirmation of 42 new OB massive stars (earlier than B3) in the region allows us to increase the young massive population known in the field. We have also confirmed the correlation between age and Galactic longitude previously found in the region. We conclude that many O and early B stars atB> 16 mag are still undiscovered in Cygnus.

Near-infrared time-series photometry in the field of Cygnus OB2 association

In the last decades, the early pre main sequence stellar rotational evolution picture has been constrained by studies targeting different young regions at a variety of ages. Observational studies suggest a mass-rotation dependence, and for some mass ranges a connection between rotation and the presence of a circumstellar disk. Not still fully explored, though, is the role of environmental conditions on the rotational regulation. We investigate the rotational properties of candidate members of the young massive association Cygnus OB2. The Stetson variability index, Lomb-Scargle periodogram, Saunders statistics, string/rope length method, and visual verification of folded light curves were applied to select 1224 periodic variable stars. Completeness and contamination of the periodic sample was derived from Monte Carlo simulations, out of which 894 periods were considered reliable. Our study was considered reasonably complete for periods from 2 to 30 days. The general rotational scenario seen in other young regions is confirmed by Cygnus OB2 period distributions, with disked stars rotating on average slower than non-disked stars. A mass-rotation dependence was also verified, but as in NGC 6530, lower mass stars are rotating on average slower than higher mass stars, with an excess of slow rotators among the lower mass population. The effect of the environment on the rotational properties of the association was investigated by re-analysing the results while taking into account the incident UV radiation arising from O stars in the association. Results compatible with the disk-locking scenario were verified for stars with low UV incidence, but no statistical significant relation between rotation and disk presence was verified for stars with high UV incidence suggesting that massive stars can have an important role on regulating the rotation of nearby low mass stars.

Analysis of the kinematic structure of the Cygnus OB1 association

The main objective of this study is the characterization of the velocity field in the Cygnus OB1 association using the radial velocity data currently available in the literature. This association is part of a larger star-forming complex located in the direction of the Cygnus region, but whose main subsystems may be distributed at different distances from the sun. We have collected radial velocity data for more than 300 stars in the area of 5 x 5 square degrees centred on the Cygnus OB1 association. We present the results of a kinematic clustering analysis in the subspace of the phase space formed by angular coordinates and radial velocity using two independent methodologies. We have found evidence of structure in the phase space with the detection of two main groups, corresponding to different radial velocity and distance values, belonging to the association, and associated with two main shells defined by the Halpha emission. A third grouping well separated from the other two in velocity appears to occupy the whole region associated with what has been called "common shell".

E-MERLIN 21 cm constraints on the mass-loss rates of OB stars in Cyg OB2

We present e-MERLIN 21 cm (L-band) observations of single luminous OB stars in the Cygnus OB2 association, from the COBRaS Legacy programme. The radio observations potentially offer the most straightforward, least model-dependent, determinations of mass-loss rates, and can be used to help resolve current discrepancies in mass-loss rates via clumped and structured hot star winds. We report here that the 21 cm flux densities of O3 to O6 supergiant and giant stars are less than ~ 70 microJy. These fluxes may be translated to `smooth' wind mass-loss upper limits of ~ 4.4 - 4.8 x 10^(-6) M_sol/yr for O3 supergiants and < 2.9 x 10^(-6) M_sol/yr for B0 to B1 supergiants. The first ever resolved 21 cm detections of the hypergiant (and LBV candidate) Cyg OB2 #12 are discussed; for multiple observations separated by 14 days, we detect a ~ 69% increase in its flux density. Our constraints on the upper limits for the mass-loss rates of evolved OB stars in Cyg OB2 support the model that the inner wind region close to the stellar surface (where Halpha forms) is more clumped than the very extended geometric region sampled by our radio observations.

Globules and pillars in Cygnus X

The radiative feedback of massive stars on molecular clouds creates pillars, globules and other features at the interface between the HII region and molecular cloud. We present here Herschel observations between 70 and 500 micron of the immediate environment of the Cygnus OB2 association, performed within the HOBYS program. All structures were detected based on their appearance at 70 micron, and have been classified as pillars, globules, evaporating gasous globules (EGGs), proplyd-like objects, and condensations. From the 70 and 160 micron flux maps, we derive the local FUV field on the PDR surfaces. In parallel, we use a census of the O-stars to estimate the overall FUV-field, that is 10^3-10^4 G_0 close to the central OB cluster (within 10 pc) and decreases down to a few tens G_0, in a distance of 50 pc. From a SED fit to the four longest Herschel wavelengths, we determine column density and temperature maps and derive masses, volume densities and surface densities for these structures. We find that the morphological classification corresponds to distinct physical properties. Pillars and globules have the longest estimated photoevaporation lifetimes, a few 10^6 yr, while all other features should survive less than that. These lifetimes are consistent with that found in simulations of turbulent, UV-illuminated clouds. We propose a tentative evolutionary scheme in which pillars can evolve into globules, which in turn then evolve into EGGs, condensations and proplyd-like objects.

Cygnus OB2 DANCe: A high-precision proper motion study of the Cygnus OB2 association

We present a high-precision proper motion study of 873 X-ray and spectroscopically selected stars in the massive OB association Cygnus OB2 as part of the DANCe project. These were calculated from images spanning a 15 year baseline and have typical precisions < 1 mas/yr. We calculate the velocity dispersion in the two axes to be $\sigma_\alpha(c) = 13.0^{+0.8}_{-0.7}$ and $\sigma_\delta(c) = 9.1^{+0.5}_{-0.5}$ km/s, using a 2-component, 2-dimensional model that takes into account the uncertainties on the measurements. This gives a 3-dimensional velocity dispersion of $\sigma_{3D} = 17.8 \pm 0.6$ km/s implying a virial mass significantly larger than the observed stellar mass, confirming that the association is gravitationally unbound. The association appears to be dynamically unevolved, as evidenced by considerable kinematic substructure, non-isotropic velocity dispersions and a lack of energy equipartition. The proper motions show no evidence for a global expansion pattern, with approximately the same amount of kinetic energy in expansion as there is in contraction, which argues against the association being an expanded star cluster disrupted by process such as residual gas expulsion or tidal heating. The kinematic substructures, which appear to be close to virial equilibrium and have typical masses of 40-400 M$_\odot$, also do not appear to have been affected by the expulsion of the residual gas. We conclude that Cyg OB2 was most likely born highly substructured and globally unbound, with the individual subgroups born in (or close to) virial equilibrium, and that the OB association has not experienced significant dynamical evolution since then.