Star Formation in IC 348

A review of work on the small, compact, nearby young cluster IC 348 is given. This region is particularly important because it is well surveyed at a variety of wavelengths and intermediate in nature between dense clusters and loose associations. Its earliest type star is B5 and it contains a few hundred stellar members as well as some brown dwarfs, protostars, Herbig-Haro objects and starless sub-mm cores. The total mass of its components is ∼90 M⊙, most of which is in the form of pre-main sequence stars. Perhaps the biggest challenge to work on the cluster is the relatively high and variable extinction (Av=1-7 mag). Studies to date have provided particularly valuable insights into the initial mass function, disk lifetimes, stellar rotation properties, X-ray properties, outflows and substructure of the cluster. Results on the stellar component include the following: 1) the initial mass function matches that for field stars in the stellar and brown dwarf regimes, 2) the fraction of stars with disks is probably normal for the cluster’s age, 3) the rotation properties match those of the Orion Nebula Cluster and are significantly different, in the sense of slower rotation, than NGC 2264, 4) the X-ray properties of the stars appear normal for T Tauri stars. There is a ridge of high extinction that lies ∼10 (0.9 pc in projection) to the southwest of IC 348 and contains about a dozen Class 0 and I protostars as well as some Herbig Haro objects and sub-mm cores. This region, which also contains the ”Flying Ghost Nebula” and the well-studied object HH 211, clearly signals that star formation in this part of the Perseus dark clouds is not yet finished. An extensive kinematical study involving both proper motions and radial velocities for the 400 members of the cluster would be most desirable.