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Intermediate-mass stars (IMSs) represent the link between low-mass and high-mass stars, and cover a key mass range for giant planet formation. In this paper, we present a spectroscopic survey of 241 young IMS candidates with IR-excess, the most complete unbiased sample to date within 300 pc. We combined VLT/X-Shooter spectra with BVR photometric observations and Gaia DR3 distances to estimate fundamental stellar parameters such as T eff, mass, radius, age, and luminosity. We further selected those stars within the intermediate-mass range 1.5 ≤ M ⋆/M⊙ ≤ 3.5, and discarded old contaminants. We used 2MASS and WISE photometry to study the IR-excesses of the sample, finding 92 previously unidentified stars with IR-excess. We classified this sample into 'protoplanetary', 'hybrid candidates', and 'debris' discs based on their observed fractional excess at 12  |$\mu$| m, finding a new population of 17 hybrid disc candidates. We studied inner disc dispersal time-scales for |$\lambda < 10 \,\mu$| m and found very different trends for IMSs and low-mass stars (LMSs). IMSs show excesses dropping fast during the first 6 Myr independently of the wavelength, while LMSs show consistently lower fractions of excess at the shortest wavelengths, and increasingly higher fractions for longer wavelengths with slower dispersal rates. In conclusion, this study demonstrates empirically that IMSs dissipate their inner discs very differently than LMSs, providing a possible explanation for the lack of short period planets around IMSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of young stellar objects (YSOs) in the Galaxy have found that a significant fraction exhibits photometric variability. However, no systematic investigation has been conducted on the variability of extragalactic YSOs. Here we present the first variability study of massive YSOs in an |$\sim 1.5\, \mathrm{deg^2}$| region of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The aim is to investigate whether the different environmental conditions in the metal-poor LMC (⁠|$\sim 0.4\!-\!0.5\, \mathrm{Z_{\odot }}$|⁠) have an impact on the variability characteristics. Multi-epoch near-infrared (NIR) photometry was obtained from the VISTA Survey of the Magellanic Clouds (VMC) and our own monitoring campaign using the VISTA telescope. By applying a reduced χ2-analysis, stellar variability was identified. We found 3062 candidate variable stars from a population of 362 425 stars detected. Based on several Spitzer studies, we compiled a sample of high-reliability massive YSOs: a total of 173 massive YSOs have NIR counterparts (down to |$K_s\sim 18.5\,$| mag) in the VMC catalogue, of which 39 display significant (>3σ) variability. They have been classified as eruptive, fader, dipper, short-term variable, and long-period variable YSOs based mostly on the appearance of their Ks -band light curves. The majority of YSOs are aperiodic; only five YSOs exhibit periodic light curves. The observed amplitudes are comparable or smaller than those for Galactic YSOs (only two Magellanic YSOs exhibit |$\Delta K_s\gt 1\,$| mag), not what would have been expected from the typically larger mass accretion rates observed in the Magellanic Clouds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is an essential input for many astrophysical studies but only in a few cases has it been determined over the whole cluster mass range, limiting the conclusions about its nature. The 25 Orionis group (25 Ori) is an excellent laboratory for investigating the IMF across the entire mass range of the population, from planetary-mass objects to intermediate/high-mass stars. We combine new deep optical photometry with optical and near-infrared data from the literature to select 1687 member candidates covering a 1.1° radius area in 25 Ori. With this sample we derived the 25 Ori system IMF from 0.012 to 13.1 M⊙. This system IMF is well described by a two-segment power law with Γ = −0.74 ± 0.04 for m < 0.4 M⊙ and Γ = 1.50 ± 0.11 for m ≥ 0.4 M⊙. It is also well described over the whole mass range by a tapered power-law function with Γ = 1.10 ± 0.09, mp  = 0.31 ± 0.03 and β = 2.11 ± 0.09. The best lognormal representation of the system IMF has mc  = 0.31 ± 0.04 and σ = 0.46 ± 0.05 for m < 1 M⊙. This system IMF does not present significant variations with the radii. We compared the resultant system IMF as well as the brown dwarf/star ratio of 0.16 ± 0.03 that we estimated for 25 Ori with that of other stellar regions with diverse conditions and found no significant discrepancies. These results support the idea that general star-formation mechanisms are probably not strongly dependent on environmental conditions. We found that the substellar and stellar objects in 25 Ori do not have any preferential spatial distributions and confirmed that 25 Ori is a gravitationally unbound stellar association. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a study of 15 new brown dwarfs belonging to the ~7 Myr old 25 Orionis group and Orion OB1a subassociation with spectral types between M6 and M9 and estimated masses between ~0.07 and ~0.01 M⊙. By comparing them through a Bayesian method with low-mass stars (0.8 ≲ M/M⊙ ≲ 0.1) from previous works in the 25 Orionis group, we found statistically significant differences in the number fraction of classical T Tauri stars, Weak T Tauri stars, class II, evolved discs and purely photospheric emitters at both sides of the substellar mass limit. Particularly, we found a fraction of 3.9-1.6+2.4 per cent low-mass stars classified as Classic T Tauri star and class II or evolved discs, against a fraction of 33.3-9.8+10.8 per cent in the substellar mass domain. Our results support the suggested scenario in which the dissipation of discs is less efficient for decreasing mass of the central object. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the results of a survey of the low-mass star and brown dwarf population of the 25 Orionis group. Using optical photometry from the CIDA (Centro de Investigaciones de Astronomía ‘Francisco J. Duarte’, Mérida, Venezuela) Deep Survey of Orion, near-IR photometry from the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy and low-resolution spectroscopy obtained with Hectospec at the MMT telescope, we selected 1246 photometric candidates to low-mass stars and brown dwarfs with estimated masses within 0.02 ≲ M/M⊙ ≲ 0.8 and spectroscopically confirmed a sample of 77 low-mass stars as new members of the cluster with a mean age of ∼7 Myr. We have obtained a system initial mass function of the group that can be well described by either a Kroupa power-law function with indices α3 = −1.73 ± 0.31 and α2 = 0.68 ± 0.41 in the mass ranges 0.03 ≤ M/M⊙ ≤ 0.08 and 0.08 ≤ M/M⊙ ≤ 0.5, respectively, or a Scalo lognormal function with coefficients $m_{\rm c}=0.21^{+0.02}_{-0.02}$ and σ = 0.36 ± 0.03 in the mass range 0.03 ≤ M/M⊙ ≤ 0.8. From the analysis of the spatial distribution of this numerous candidate sample, we have confirmed the east–west elongation of the 25 Orionis group observed in previous works, and rule out a possible southern extension of the group. We find that the spatial distributions of low-mass stars and brown dwarfs in 25 Orionis are statistically indistinguishable. Finally, we found that the fraction of brown dwarfs showing IR excesses is higher than for low-mass stars, supporting the scenario in which the evolution of circumstellar discs around the least massive objects could be more prolonged. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]