Description
We present sub-arcsecond (0.35-0.9"), near-infrared J-, H- and K-band photometric observations of six fields along the W51 giant molecular cloud (W51 GMC). Our observations reveal four new, embedded clusters and provide a new high-resolution (0.35") view of the W51 IRS2 (G49.5-0.4) region. The cluster associated with G48.9-0.3 is found to be a double cluster enclosed in a nest of near-infrared nebulosity. We construct stellar surface density maps for four major clusters in the W51 GMC. These unveil the underlying hierarchical structure.
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