NEAR-INFRARED IMAGES OF STAR-FORMING REGIONS CONTAINING MASERS - LAS-CAMPANAS OBSERVATIONS OF 31 SOUTHERN SOURCES

We present sensitive high resolution near infrared (NIR) broad band (J , H, and K) observations of a sample of 31 Star Forming Regions (SFRs) which contain H2O and OH maser sources. The observations are aimed at the detection and characterization of Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) wh ich may be the source of excitation of the maser emission. In spite of the large number of sources detected in the regions, using positional coincidence and NIR colours we are able to reliably identify K-band s ources related to the masing gas in a large fraction of the observed r egions. The NIR infrared sources selected from close positional coinci dence with the maser show strong NIR excesses and most probably repres ent the YSOs still embedded in their parental cocoon where the maser e mission occurs.