NGC-2264-IRS - EVIDENCE FOR TRIGGERED STAR-FORMATION

As part of its commissioning process the Near-Infrared Camera and Mult iobject Spectrometer (NICMOS) obtained images of the infrared source N GC 2264 IRS, also known as Alien's source, in three colors. In additio n to the completely overexposed image of IRS there are six point objec ts, never previously observed, at projected separations of 2''.6 to 4' '.9 from TRS. These sources are interpreted as near solar mass, pre-ma in-sequence stars that may be the result of triggered star formation. Regardless of the star formation method, it appears certain that this group of stars is a coeval formation of various mass stars. This makes it a very valuable data set for the study of pre-main-sequence evolut ion.