A near-infrared imaging survey of NGC 2282

We present the first near-infrared (JHK) imaging and photometry of a young cluster associated with NGC 2282, a reflection nebula in Monoceros. Our observations reveal that the cluster is centrally concentrated with a surface density that falls as r(-1). The cluster has a radius of roughly 1.6 pc and contains at least 100 members, approximately 9% of which exhibit infrared excess emission characteristic of young stellar objects. infrared extinction maps suggest that the cluster is located at the edge of a molecular cloud and is not heavily reddened. We construct the K-band luminosity function (KLF) of the cluster and find that it increases with magnitude up to the completeness limit of our observations (m(K)=15.0). The shape of the KLF is similar to those of other young clusters, such as IC 348 and the Trapezium, which suggest that the cluster contains a significant population of pre-main sequence stars. However, at the distance of NGC 2282 (1.7 kpc) our observations are not deep enough to sample the low mass end of the cluster IMF, Consequently, our KLF does not provide meaningful constraints on either the age of the cluster or the duration of star formation within it. On the other hand, the low extinction toward the cluster, its location at the edge of a molecular cloud, and the relatively small fraction of infrared excess sources suggest that it is a relatively evolved cluster of pre-main-sequence stars with an age of 5-10X10(6) years. (C) 1997 American Astronomical Society.