A Gaia census of young moving groups in the solar neighborhood

In this thesis astrometric data obtained with the ESA Gaia space observatory is used to investigate various young stellar populations in the solar neighborhood. These include Sco OB2, IC 2602, Platais 8, Platais 9, IC 2391, BH 23, NGC 2451A, NGC 2451B, Collinder 135, UBC 7, Collinder 140, gamma Vel, and NGC 6231. The unprecedented accuracy of Gaia's astrometric data enables us to obtain a much more complete census of these stellar populations, including membership, age, and dynamical history. We redraw the subgroup division in Sco OB2 according to the spatial distribution, proper motion difference, and age difference by applying a kinematic model. The configuration of the subgroups is discussed in terms of recent formation scenarios. Applying the same method to a larger region, the stellar populations are traced back to their locations of birth and we find that these clusters come from three directions in space. A supernova event in the older clusters may have triggered the formation of the younger ones. We search for the origin of the runaway high-mass X-ray binary system HD 153919/4U 1700-37. Its parent cluster is NGC 6231, and hence provides a physical constraint to the age and mass of the runaway system as well as that of the cluster. We study an alternative method of age determination using the location of the so-called H-peak in the luminosity function of a stellar cluster. The calibration of the age-H-peak relation is updated with Gaia data and state-of-the-art stellar evolution models.