The nearby Galaxy structure toward the Vela Gum nebula
  We report on $UBVI$ photometry and spectroscopy for MK classification
purposes carried out in the fields of five open clusters projected against the
Vela Gum in the Third Galactic Quadrant of the Galaxy. They are Ruprecht 20,
Ruprecht 47, Ruprecht 60, NGC 2660 and NGC 2910. We could improve/confirm the
parameters of these objects derived before. The spectroscopic parallax method
has been applied to several stars located in the fields of four out of the five
clusters to get their distances and reddenings. With this method we found two
blue stars in the field of NGC 2910 at distances that make them likely members
of Vela OB1 too. Also, projected against the fields of Ruprecht 20 and Ruprecht
47 we have detected other young stars favoring not only the existence of Puppis
OB1 and OB2 but conforming a young stellar group at $\sim1$ kpc from the Sun
and extending for more than 6 kpc outward the Galaxy. If this is the case,
there is a thickening of the thin Galactic disk of more than 300 pc at just 2-3
kpc from the Sun. Ruprecht 60 and NGC 2660 are too old objects that have no
physical relation with the associations under discussion. An astonishing result
has been the detection in the background of Ruprecht 47 of a young star at the
impressive distance of 9.5 kpc from the Sun that could be a member of the
innermost part of the Outer Arm. Another far young star in the field of NGC
2660, at near 6.0 kpc, may become a probable member of the Perseus Arm or of
the inner part of the Local Arm. The distribution of young clusters and stars
onto the Third Galactic Quadrant agrees with recent findings concerning the
extension of the Local Arm as revealed by parallaxes of regions of star
formation. We show evidences too that added to previous ones found by our group
explain the thickening of the thin disk as a combination of flare and warp.
