We present results of a sensitive 76ks Chandra observation of the young stellar cluster in NGC 2024, lying at a distance of ~415pc in the Orion B giant molecular cloud. Previous infrared observations have shown that this remarkable cluster contains several hundred embedded young stars, most of which are still surrounded by circumstellar disks. Thus, it presents a rare opportunity to study X-ray activity in a large sample of optically invisible protostars and classical T Tauri stars (CTTSs) undergoing accretion. Chandra detected 283 X-ray sources, of which 248 were identified with counterparts at other wavelengths, mostly in the near-infrared. Astrometric registration of Chandra images against the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) resulted in positional offsets of ~0.25" near field center, yielding high confidence identifications of infrared counterparts.
Cone search capability for table J/ApJ/598/375/table1 (CHANDRA X-ray Sources in NGC 2024)