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Description
We present a multiwavelength investigation of the young stellar population and star formation activities around the HII region Sharpless 311. Using our deep near-infrared observations and archival Spitzer-IRAC observations, we have detected a total of 125 young stellar objects (YSOs) in an area of ~86 arcmin^2^. The YSO sample includes eight Class I and 117 Class II candidate YSOs. The mass completeness of the identified YSO sample is estimated to be 1.0M_{sun}_. The ages and masses of the majority of the candidate YSOs are estimated to be in the range ~0.1-5Myr and ~0.3-6M_{sun}_, respectively. The 8um image of S311 displays an approximately spherical cavity around the ionizing source, which was possibly created by the expansion of the H ii region. The spatial distribution of the candidate YSOs reveals that a significant number of them are distributed systematically along the 8-{mu}m emission with a majority clustered around the eastern border of the HII region. Four clumps/compact HII regions are detected in the radio continuum observations at 1280MHz, which may have been formed during the expansion of the HII region. The estimated dynamical age of the region, main-sequence lifetime of the ionizing source, the spatial distribution and ages of the candidate YSOs indicate triggered star formation in the complex.
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