Abstract

We report the results of an investigation of faint probable members of the very young open cluster NGC 6530 in M8, based on intermediate resolution spectroscopy obtained with the 6.5m Magellan I telescope at Las Campanas Observatory. The analysis of the spectra lead us to discover 39 new pre-main sequence stars in the region. According to the spectral types, the presence of emission lines and lithium absorption line, we identify 30 classical T Tauri stars, 7 weak T Tauri stars and two Herbig Ae/Be objects. Using infrared magnitudes from 2MASS and from our previous work and the evolutionary tracks from Palla &Stahler (1999), we estimate the masses and ages of these stars. We find that almost all of our sample stars are younger than 3 × 10 6 years and span a range of masses between 0.8 and 2.0 M. © 2006: Instituto de Astronomía.