Infrared photometry of G216-2.5 YSOs

Although star formation has been detected in neighboring satellite clouds, little evidence for star formation has been found in the main body of this cloud. Using a combination of mid-IR observations with the IRAC and Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer instruments onboard the Spitzer Space Telescope, and near-IR images taken with the Flamingos camera on the KPNO 2.1m telescope, we identify a population of 41 young stars with disks and 33 protostars in the center of the cloud.

Most of the young stellar objects are coincident with a filamentary structure of dense gas detected in CS (2->1). These observations show that the main body of G216 is actively forming stars, although at a low stellar density comparable to that found in the Taurus cloud.