Description
Observations of pre-main-sequence star rotation periods reveal slow rotators in young clusters of various ages, indicating that angular momentum is somehow removed from these rotating masses. The mechanism by which spin-up is regulated as young stars contract has been one of the longest standing problems in star formation. Attempts to observationally confirm the prevailing theory that magnetic interaction between the star and its circumstellar disk regulates these rotation periods have produced mixed results. In this paper, we use the unprecedented disk identification capability of the Spitzer Space Telescope to test the star-disk interaction paradigm in two young clusters, NGC 2264 and the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC).
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