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Description
We present proper motions of 59 stars of the ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS) located in direction of the Chamaeleon star forming region (SFR) in the magnitude range B=5.1-17mag. Proper motions of the fainter stars were newly derived utilizing survey Schmidt plates from the GSC~II plate archive and from a set of special plates taken with the ESO Schmidt telescope. The vector point diagram (VPD) indicates that the certified weak emission-line T Tauri (WTT) stars cluster away from the region occupied by the brighter pre-main-sequence stars (PMS) in Cha I. The distance to this new association is estimated at ~100pc, sensibly smaller than the 150pc generally assumed for the SFR. This yields an upper limit of 2km/s for the velocity dispersion of this new kinematic group. The de-reddened CM diagram of the group members suggest the WTT stars are still PMS objects, but older (3-30Myr) and less massive than previous determinations. These revised age estimates, the newly derived group peculiar velocity, and current distance estimates to the Cha~I/II/III complex would favour in-situ formation against that predicted by high velocity cloud models. Finally, based on a redetermination of the peculiar motions of stars and gas, we speculate that the whole SFR originated from the local Orion spur as a result of more classical mechanisms like interactions with the spiral arms.
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