Scorpius–Centaurus OB association

E103062

OB association astronomical object stellar association

The Scorpius–Centaurus OB association is the nearest large group of young, massive stars to the Sun, spanning the constellations Scorpius and Centaurus and playing a key role in studies of recent star formation in our Galactic neighborhood.

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All labels observed (12)

Label	Occurrences
Scorpius–Centaurus OB association canonical	15
Sco–Cen OB association	3
Scorpius–Centaurus association	2
Sco-Cen OB association	1
Scorpius OB association	1
Scorpius OB association (candidate)	1
Scorpius OB association (region)	1
Scorpius–Centaurus complex	1
Scorpius–Centaurus region	1
Sco–Cen	1
Sco–Cen OB stars	1
Upper Centaurus–Lupus subgroup about 14 to 16 million years	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T868800 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Scorpius–Centaurus OB association
Context triple: [Orion Arm, contains, Scorpius–Centaurus OB association]

A. Perseus OB2 association
Perseus OB2 association is a nearby group of young, massive OB-type stars located in the Perseus constellation region of the Milky Way.
B. Open cluster NGC 6530
Open cluster NGC 6530 is a young, bright star cluster embedded in the Lagoon Nebula in the constellation Sagittarius, serving as a prominent site of active star formation within the Milky Way.
C. Orion Molecular Cloud Complex
The Orion Molecular Cloud Complex is a vast star-forming region in the constellation Orion, rich in gas, dust, and young stellar objects, and one of the most studied nurseries of massive stars in the Milky Way.
D. Baade’s star
Baade’s star is a luminous, variable star in the Andromeda Galaxy notable for its role in Walter Baade’s work refining the cosmic distance scale.
E. Carina Nebula
The Carina Nebula is a vast, active star-forming region in the Milky Way known for its towering gas and dust pillars and dramatic young stellar clusters.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Scorpius–Centaurus OB association
Target entity description: The Scorpius–Centaurus OB association is the nearest large group of young, massive stars to the Sun, spanning the constellations Scorpius and Centaurus and playing a key role in studies of recent star formation in our Galactic neighborhood.

A. Perseus OB2 association
Perseus OB2 association is a nearby group of young, massive OB-type stars located in the Perseus constellation region of the Milky Way.
B. Open cluster NGC 6530
Open cluster NGC 6530 is a young, bright star cluster embedded in the Lagoon Nebula in the constellation Sagittarius, serving as a prominent site of active star formation within the Milky Way.
C. Orion Molecular Cloud Complex
The Orion Molecular Cloud Complex is a vast star-forming region in the constellation Orion, rich in gas, dust, and young stellar objects, and one of the most studied nurseries of massive stars in the Milky Way.
D. Baade’s star
Baade’s star is a luminous, variable star in the Andromeda Galaxy notable for its role in Walter Baade’s work refining the cosmic distance scale.
E. Carina Nebula
The Carina Nebula is a vast, active star-forming region in the Milky Way known for its towering gas and dust pillars and dramatic young stellar clusters.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (46)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	OB association ⓘ astronomical object ⓘ stellar association ⓘ
abbreviation	Sco–Cen ⓘ linked to: Scorpius–Centaurus OB association
age	Lower Centaurus–Crux subgroup about 15 to 17 million years ⓘ Upper Centaurus–Lupus subgroup about 14 to 16 million years ⓘ linked to: Scorpius–Centaurus OB association Upper Scorpius subgroup about 5 to 11 million years ⓘ
ageRange	approximately 5 to 20 million years ⓘ
associatedWith	Local Bubble ⓘ nearby molecular clouds in Chamaeleon ⓘ nearby molecular clouds in Lupus ⓘ nearby molecular clouds in Ophiuchus ⓘ
containsStarType	B-type stars ⓘ Herbig Ae/Be stars ⓘ O-type stars ⓘ T Tauri stars ⓘ pre-main-sequence stars ⓘ
containsStellarSubgroup	Lower Centaurus–Crux ⓘ Upper Centaurus–Lupus ⓘ Upper Scorpius ⓘ
coordinateSystem	often analyzed in Galactic coordinates ⓘ
distanceFromSun	approximately 100 to 200 parsecs ⓘ approximately 330 to 650 light years ⓘ
hasAlternativeName	Scorpius–Centaurus association ⓘ linked to: Scorpius–Centaurus OB association Sco–Cen OB association ⓘ linked to: Scorpius–Centaurus OB association
hasAngularExtent	over 100 degrees on the sky ⓘ
hasEventHistory	multiple past supernova explosions ⓘ
hasInfluenced	interstellar medium in the solar neighborhood ⓘ
hasKinematicProperty	common space motion of member stars ⓘ expanding association ⓘ
hasMemberCount	several thousand stars ⓘ
isNearest	nearest large OB association to the Sun ⓘ
locatedIn	Milky Way ⓘ
memberOf	local spiral arm of the Milky Way ⓘ
nearTo	Sun ⓘ
partOf	Gould Belt ⓘ
playsRoleIn	studies of recent star formation near the Sun ⓘ studies of stellar kinematics in the solar neighborhood ⓘ studies of triggered star formation ⓘ
researchImportance	key laboratory for testing theories of clustered star formation ⓘ key laboratory for testing theories of massive star formation ⓘ
spansConstellation	Centaurus ⓘ Scorpius ⓘ
usedAs	benchmark region for circumstellar disk evolution studies ⓘ benchmark region for exoplanet searches around young stars ⓘ benchmark region for studying young solar-type stars ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (29)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Orion Arm → contains → Scorpius–Centaurus OB association ⓘ

Local Bubble → likelyOriginRegion → Scorpius–Centaurus OB association ⓘ

Gould Belt → contains → Scorpius–Centaurus OB association ⓘ

Local Arm → contains → Scorpius–Centaurus OB association ⓘ

Loop I superbubble → associatedWith → Scorpius–Centaurus OB association ⓘ

Loop I superbubble → associatedWith → Sco–Cen OB stars ⓘ