HIGH-RESOLUTION NEAR-INFRARED IMAGING OF THE TRAPEZIUM - A STELLAR CENSUS

We present high spatial resolution (0.35 and 0.65 arcsec FWHM) near-in frared images of the central 0.2X0.2 pc of the Trapezium Cluster in th e Orion Nebula, centered on the Trapezium OB stars. These images provi de the most complete census of stars in this region, and we give accur ate positions and near-infrared (2.1 mu m) magnitudes for 123 stars. A fter accounting for line-of-sight projection, we estimate a stellar de nsity for the duster of similar to 4.7x10(4) stars per cubic parsec in the similar to 0.1 pc diameter core. We identify stellar counterparts to virtually all the known dense knots of ionized gas seen at optical and radio wavelengths, strongly supporting the hypothesis that many a re either intrinsic stellar radio emitters or circumstellar disks arou nd stars, and not simply dense clumps of gas and dust. We derive appro ximate masses for the stars associated with the compact knots, finding that the majority are relatively low mass.