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Description
The Ara OB1a association is a nearby complex in the fourth Galactic quadrant where a number of young/embedded star clusters are projected close to more evolved, intermediate age clusters. It is also rich in interstellar matter, and contains evidences of the interplay between massive stars and their surrounding medium, like the rim HII region NGC 6188. We provide more solid estimates of the fundamental parameters (age and distance) of the two most prominent stellar clusters, NGC 6167 and NGC 6193, that may be used as a basis to study the star formation history of the region. The study is based on a photometric optical survey (UBVIHa) of NGC 6167 and NGC 6193 and their nearby field, complemented with public data from 2MASS-VVV, UCAC3 and IRAC-Spitzer in this region. We produced a uniform photometric catalogue and we estimated more robustly the fundamental parameters for NGC 6167, NGC 6193 and the IRAS 16375-4854 source. As a consequence, all of them are located at approximately the same distance from the Sun in the Sagittarius-Carina Galactic arm. However, the ages we estimated differ widely: NGC 6167 results to be an intermediate-age cluster (20-30Myr), NGC 6193 a very young one (1-5Myr) with PMS, H{alpha} emitters, and class II objects; and the IRAS 16375-4854 source is revealed as the youngest of the three containing several YSOs. These results support a picture in which Ara OB1a is a region where star formation has proceeded for several tens of Myr up to the present. The difference in ages of different stellar groups can be interpreted as a consequence of a triggered star formation process. Additionally, in the specific case of NGC 6193, an indication of possible non-coeval star formation was found.
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