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Description
We have performed an unbiased search for outflows from young stars in Cygnus-X using 42deg^2^ of data from the UKIRT Widefield Infrared Survey for H_2_ (UWISH2 Survey), to identify shock-excited near-IR H_2_ emission in the 1-0 S(1) 2.122{mu}m line. We uncovered 572 outflows, of which 465 are new discoveries, increasing the number of known objects by more than 430%. This large and unbiased sample allows us to statistically determine the typical properties of outflows from young stars. We found 261 bipolar outflows, and 16% of these are parsec scale. The typical bipolar outflow is 0.45pc in length and has gaps of 0.025-0.1pc between large knots. The median luminosity in the 1-0 S(1) line is 10^-3^L_{sun}_. The bipolar flows are typically asymmetrical, with the two lobes misaligned by 5{deg}, one lobe 30% shorter than the other, and one lobe twice as bright as the other. Of the remaining outflows, 152 are single- sided and 159 are groups of extended, shock-excited H2 emission without identifiable driving sources. Half of all driving sources have sufficient WISE data to determine their evolutionary status as either protostars (80%) or classical T Tauri stars (20%). One-fifth of the driving sources are variable by more than 0.5mag in the K-band continuum over several years. Several of the newly identified outflows provide excellent targets for follow-up studies. We particularly encourage the study of the outflows and young stars identified in a bright-rimmed cloud near IRAS 20294+4255, which seems to represent a textbook example of triggered star formation.
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