Near-Infrared Adaptive Optics Imaging of the Embedded Cluster NGC 2024

Abstract

We present the results of a high-resolution near-infrared adaptive optics survey of the young obscured star-forming region NGC 2024. Out of the total 73 stars detected in the adaptive optics survey of the cluster, we find three binaries and one triple. The resulting companion star fraction, 7%+/-3% in the separation range of 0.35"-2.3" (145-950 AU), is consistent with that expected from the multiplicity of mature solar-type stars in the local neighborhood. Our survey was sensitive to faint secondaries, but no companions with ΔK^'>1.2 mag are detected within 2" of any star. The cluster has a K' luminosity function that peaks at ~12, and although our completeness limit was 17.7 mag at K', the faintest star we detected had a K' magnitude of 16.62.