Star formation in the southern dark cloud DC 296.2-3.6

Abstract

We report near and mid-infrared images of the Southern-Hemisphere dark cloud DC 296.2-3.6 associated with IRAS 11431-6516. The Ks and L´ images show the presence of an infrared nebulosity at the center of the dark cloud. From the analysis of the near-infrared color-color diagram we have identified a young stellar population in the region. Five of these young stellar objects, here named A, B, C, D, and E were detected also in the mid-infrared. Sources B, D, and E are Class I-II T Tauri as suggested by the analysis of their spectral energy distributions. In addition, source E shows a long term near-infrared variability. The near-infrared color-color diagrams indicate the presence of circumstellar dust envelope in sources A, B, D and E, while the SEDs of the intermediate- and low- mass objects A and B, suggest circumstellar disks around these two objects. The results presented here indicate that DC 296.2-3.6, located in the far Carina arm, is associated with an embedded clusters of low-mass young stellar objects.