Description
The central region of the dark cloud L1482 is illuminated by LkH{alpha} 101, a heavily reddened (A_V_~10mag) high-luminosity (>=8x10^3^L_Sun_) star having an unusual emission-line spectrum plus a featureless continuum. About 35 much fainter (mostly between R=16 and >21) H{alpha} emitters have been found in the cloud. Their color-magnitude distribution suggests a median age of about 0.5Myr, with considerable dispersion. There are also at least five bright B-type stars in the cloud, presumably of about the same age; none show the peculiarities expected of HAeBe stars. Dereddened, their apparent V magnitudes lead to a distance of about 700pc. Radio observations suggest that the optical object LkH{alpha} 101 is in fact a hot star surrounded by a small H II region, both inside an optically thick dust shell.
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