Formation Process of the Young Stellar Population in Messier 16 from a Kinematic Perspective

Abstract We present a kinematic study of young stars in Messier 16 (M16) using the Gaia Data Release 3 and high-resolution spectra. A total of 345 stars are selected as genuine members using the published lists of X-ray sources, infrared sources, and early-type stars as well as the Gaia data. There is severe differential reddening across this region and the reddening law of the intracluster medium appears abnormal. The distance to M16, derived from the parallaxes of the members, is about 1.7 kpc. The ages of members, estimated by comparing their color–magnitude diagram with theoretical isochrones, range from 1 Myr to 4 Myr. This star-forming region is composed of an open cluster (NGC 6611) and a distributed population. This cluster shows a clear pattern of expansion and rotation. Some of the distributed population are spatially associated with the gas pillars located at the ridge of the H II bubble. In particular, several stars moving away from the cluster are physically associated with the northeastern pillar. In addition, their younger ages support the idea that their formation was triggered by the feedback from massive stars in NGC 6611. On the other hand, the other stars do not show systematic radial or stream motions; therefore, they likely formed through spontaneous star formation events. We discuss the formation of young stars in the context of cluster expansion, spontaneous star formation, and feedback-driven star formation, and suggest that possibly all of these mechanisms contributed.