Deep Near-Infrared Images and ISOCAM Observations of Chamaeleon I North

Abstract

We present the results of deep near-infrared imaging and ISOCAM observations of three selected regions localized in the northern part of the Chamaeleon I dark cloud, in order to search for the low-luminosity population. In an area of 3x3 arcmin^2 centered on the bipolar molecular outflow, which is the densest part of the cloud, we have discovered a new Class I source (here named ISOCAM-Cha INa2) with a spectral index alpha = 1.9 and 1-18 μm luminosity of 0.6 L_solar that is most probably responsible for the observed CO outflow. The comparison between the observed K-magnitude distribution for this region and that obtained for a region outside the outflow and adjacent to the star HD 97300 indicates the possible presence of a very low luminosity young stellar population in the densest part of the cloud.