VLBA Determination of the Distance to Nearby Star-forming Regions. VIII. The LkH$\alpha$ 101 cluster

Abstract

The LkH$\alpha$ 101 cluster takes its name from its more massive member, the LkH$\alpha$ 101star, which is an $\sim 15$ M${}_{\odot }$ star whose true nature is still unknown. The distance to the LkH$\alpha$ 101 cluster has been controversial for the last few decades, with estimated values ranging from 160 to 800 pc. We have observed members and candidate members of the LkH$\alpha$ 101 cluster with signs of magnetic activity, using the Very Long Baseline Array, in order to measure their trigonometric parallax and, thus, obtain a direct measurement of their distances. A young star member, LkH$\alpha$ 101 VLA J043001.15+351724.6, was detected at four epochs as a single radio source. The best fit to its displacement on the plane of the sky yields a distance of 535$\pm$29 pc. We argue that this is the distance to the LkH$\alpha$ 101 cluster.

6 pages, 3 figures and 2 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ

References in corpus (5)

• The Gould's Belt Distances Survey (GOBELINS) II. Distances and structure towards the Orion Molecular Clouds
• VLBA determination of the distance to nearby star-forming regions I. The distance to T Tauri with 0.4% accuracy
• The Gould's Belt Distances Survey (GOBELINS) I. Trigonometric parallax distances and depth of the Ophiuchus complex
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• The APOGEE-2 Survey of the Orion Star Forming Complex II: Six-dimensional structure
• Distances and Kinematics of Gould Belt Star-Forming Regions with Gaia DR2 results
• Comparison of Gaia DR2 Parallaxes of Stars with VLBI Astrometry
• Low Mass Stars as Tracers of Star and Cluster Formation
• First embedded cluster formation in California molecular cloud