Lagoon Nebula stars. I. Rotation periods

This first paper presents rotation periods for 290 low-mass stars in NGC 6530, the young cluster illuminating the nebula, and for which we assemble a catalog of infrared and spectroscopic disk indicators, estimated masses and ages, and X-ray luminosities. The distribution of rotation periods we measure is broadly uniform for 0.5days<P<10days; the short-period cutoff corresponds to breakup.

We observe no obvious bimodality in the period distribution, but we do find that stars with disk signatures rotate more slowly on average. The stars' X-ray luminosities are roughly flat with rotation period, at the saturation level (log L_X_/L_bol_{approx} -3.3). However, we find a significant positive correlation between L_X_/L_bol_ and corotation radius, suggesting that the observed X-ray luminosities are regulated by centrifugal stripping of the stellar coronae.