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Start Over Subject stellar associations Facility HST
1. NGC 1741 HST photometry
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/117/1708
Title:
NGC 1741 HST photometry
Short Name:
J/AJ/117/1708
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
We use Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Faint Object Camera (FOC) ultraviolet (UV) and WFPC2 optical images in conjunction with UV spectroscopic observations taken with the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph to examine the star formation history and properties of the interacting galaxy system NGC 1741 in the Hickson Compact Group 31. The high spatial resolution afforded by HST has allowed us to identify a large number of starburst knots, or "superstar clusters" (SSCs), in the starburst regions of this system. Photometry of these SSCs in the UV and optical bands indicates that most of these objects have ages of a few Myr, with a few up to ~100Myr, and masses between 10^4^ and 10^6^M_{sun}_. The estimated age is confirmed by a spectral synthesis analysis of one knot for which we have obtained a UV spectrum. The V-band luminosity function of the SSCs is well represented by a power law {Phi}(L)~L^-{alpha}^ with an index of -1.85, with no evidence of a turnover brighter than the completeness limit. These properties are in good agreement with those found for SSCs in other starburst galaxies. Our results support the suggestion that some of these SSCs may be extremely young globular clusters formed in a relatively recent starburst episode that has been triggered by a merger event.
2. Photometry in the M31 OB association NGC 206
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/468/633
Title:
Photometry in the M31 OB association NGC 206
Short Name:
J/ApJ/468/633
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
As part of our effort to determine what affects the star formation process by looking at the products of that process, we have obtained broadband Hubble Space Telescope images of the large OB association NGC 206 in the nearby spiral galaxy M31. Our images cover approximately the southern half of the association. We have detected stars down to an F555W magnitude of 25.5 and measure stars on the main sequence in NGC 206 to an M_F555W,0_ of -1 or a mass of ~6M_{sun}_. From a comparison with isochrones, ages up to about 8Myr are plausible, and we adopt an age of 6Myr. For stellar masses 6-15M_{sun}_, we determine an initial mass function slope of -1.4+/-0.5. This is close to the value for a Salpeter mass function, although the uncertainty is large. The uncertainty in the slope represents disagreement among the individual mass bins. In terms of intermediate-mass stars (6-15M_{sun}_) the NGC 206 star formation event appears to be typical of star formation processes in other nearby galaxies, and it is part of a growing number of studies ,that are finding similarities in the products of the star formation processes in a wide variety of star formation events and galactic environments. Nevertheless, the density of stars formed in NGC 206 is much lower than that in giant H II regions such as NGC 604 in M33 or 30 Doradus in the LMC and in typical OB associations.
3. Young star clusters in The Antennae
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/109/960
Title:
Young star clusters in The Antennae
Short Name:
J/AJ/109/960
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
New high-resolution images of the disks of NGC 4038/4039 obtained with the Wide Field Camera of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) are presented. NGC 4038/4039, nicknamed "The Antennae," is a prototypical example of a pair of colliding galaxies believed to be at an early stage of a merger. Down to the limiting magnitude of V~23mag, the HST images reveal a population of over 700 blue pointlike objects within the disks. The mean absolute magnitude of these objects is M_V_=-11mag, with the brightest objects reaching M_V_~-15. Their mean apparent color indices are U-V=-0.7mag and V-I=0.8mag on the Johnson UVI passband system, while their mean indices corrected for internal reddening are (U-V)_0_=-1.0mag and (V-I)_0_=0.5. Their mean effective radius, determined from slightly resolved images, is 18pc (for H0=50km/s/Mpc). Based on their luminosities and resolution, most of these objects cannot be individual stars, but are likely young compact star clusters. The brighter ones are similar to the objects found in NGC 1275 and NGC 7252, which appear to be young globular clusters formed during recent galaxy mergers. Based on their U-V and V-I colors, the brightest, bluest clusters of NGC 4038/4039 appear to be less than 10Myr old. Most of these bright clusters are relatively tightly clustered themselves, with typically a dozen individual clusters belonging to a complex identified as a giant H II region from ground-based observations. The cluster luminosity function (LF) is approximately a power law, {Phi}(L)dL is proportional to L^(-1.78+/-0.05)^dL, with no hint of a turnover at fainter magnitudes. This power-law shape agrees with the LF of Magellanic Cloud clusters and Galactic open clusters, but differs from the LF of old globular cluster systems that is typically Gaussian with a FWHM of ~3mag. Possible explanations for this apparent difference include: (1) We have not observed faint enough to see the turnover, (2) the initial LF of star clusters is a power law but the fainter objects dissolve with time, (3) conditions at the present epoch favor the formation of a wide range of cluster masses while conditions at earlier epochs favored the formation of massive clusters, and (4) the NGC 4038/4039 clusters may not evolve into normal globular clusters. Besides the blue clusters, we also find about a dozen extremely red objects with V-I>3.0. The highest number density of these red objects is found in the SE quadrant, where star formation appears to be most recent. We propose that these objects may be very young star clusters still embedded in their placental dust cocoons.

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