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Description
Westerlund 1 is the most important starburst cluster in the Galaxy due to its massive star content. We have performed BVI_C_ and JK_S_ photometry to investigate the initial mass function (IMF). By comparing the observed color with the spectral-type-intrinsic-color relation, we obtain the mean interstellar reddening of <E(B-V)>=4.19+/-0.23 and <E(J-K_S_)>=1.70+/-0.21. Due to the heavy extinction toward the cluster, the zero-age main sequence fitting method based on optical photometry proved to be inappropriate for the distance determination, while the near-infrared photometry gave a reliable distance to the cluster, 3.8kpc from the empirical relation. Using the recent theoretical stellar evolution models with rotation, the age of the cluster is estimated to be 5.0+/-1.0Myr. We derived the IMF in the massive part and obtained a fairly shallow slope of {Gamma}=-0.8+/-0.1. The integration of the IMF gave a total mass for the cluster in excess of 5.0x10^4^M_{sun}_. The IMF shows a clear radial variation indicating the presence of mass segregation. We also discuss the possible star formation history of Westerlund 1 from the presence of red supergiants and relatively low luminosity yellow hypergiants.
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