Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “young star clusters”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 109 records · Page 6
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1994

Hubble Space Telescope imaging of super-star clusters in NGC 1569 and NGC 1705

We examine the structural properties of three super-star clusters in the nearby, H I-rich galaxies NGC 1569 and NGC 1705. The clusters, which have total absolute V magnitudes between -13.3 and -14.1, appear to be point sources on ground-based images but are partially resolved in new images obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Planetary Camera. From deconvolved V- and I-band images we find that the three clusters have very compact cores with extended halos that are partially resolved into individual stars. Using new distances to the galaxies derived from color-magnitude diagrams for field stars, we find that the half-light radii are 2.2-3.4 pc. The cluster in NGC 1705 is barely resolved in the HST images. The clusters in NGC 1569, on the other hand, show significant substructure in their cores and ellipticities that are comparable to the flattenings seen in young clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The clusters show internal (V-I) color gradients. The properties of these clusters are similar to R136, the core of the luminous star-forming complex 30 Doradus in the LMC, except that R136 has a lower luminosity and central surface brightness. The half-light surface brightness of the brightest cluster (NGC 1569 A) is 1.3 x 10(exp 6) L(sub v) solar/ sq cm, which is over 65 times higher than R136 and 1200 times higher than the mean rich LMC star cluster other than R136 after allowing for aging effects. The next brightest clusters in each of these galaxies are greater than or = 2 mag fainter. Thus, the super-star clusters represent an extreme but uncommon mode of star formation. In terms of luminosity and size, they appear to be good analogs of young globular clusters.

O'Connell, Robert W.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Optical observations of NGC 2915: A nearby blue compact dwarf galaxy

This paper presents B and R band Charge Coupled Device (CCD) images and medium resolution spectroscopy of NGC 2915, a relatively isolated BCD (blue compact dwarf) galaxy at a distance of approximately 5 Mpc. NGC 2915 contains two stellar populations: a high surface brightness blue core population and a red diffuse population. The core population contains all of the H II, and numerous embedded objects. It is the locus of current high mass star formation. The brightest embedded objects are likely to be young ionizing clusters, while many of the fainter objects are likely to be individual supergiant stars with masses up to approximately 25 solar mass, or blends of a few such stars. Curious aligned structures on the SE side of the galaxy are seen and their nature discussed. The spectrum of the core is dominated by bright narrow emission lines like that of a high excitation and low metallicity (less than half solar) H II region. The continuum is flat, with Balmer and Ca II features seen in absorption. The velocity of the Ca II features suggest contamination by galactic interstellar absorption. There is a significant velocity gradient in the spectra, probably indicative of rotation. Outside of its core, NGC 2915 resembles a dE (dwarf elliptical) galaxy, in that it has an exponential surface brightness profile, is red ((B-R)(sub 0) = 1.65), and has a low extrapolated central surface brightness (B(0)(sub c) = 22.44). NGC 2915's properties are compared with other BCDs, concentrating on two morphologically similar BCDs that are near enough to resolve into stars: NGC 1705 and NGC 5253. It is noted that the presence of winds in BCDs invalidates closed box chemical evolution models and the remaining constraints on star formation duration are relatively weak. Some BCDs, including NGC 2915, may be able to maintain their present star formation rate for Gyr time scales. This suggests that the overall evolution of these BCDs may be much slower than the approximately 10 Myr burst time scales commonly quoted. However, shortly after the formation of a massive (10(exp 6) solar mass) cluster a BCD will have all the properties of strong starburst galaxy).

Meurer, G. R.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Multiwavelength observations of two B-star nurseries - DR 15 and DR 20

New observations of DR 15 and 20 are reported as part of a study of compact H II regions in the Cyg X region. The radio and FIR data for these objects, when combined with (C-12)O maps, IRAS imagery, and optical photographs, provide new insights into the structure of this complex region and the nature of the star-formation process there. The observations show that DR 15 may consist of one or two B0 ZAMS stars whose H I regions have formed a low-density cavity within a molecular cloud. DR 20 appears to be a young OB cluster. The cluster is dominated by an O5.5 ZAMS star and also contains an approximately 3500-yr-old B0 star appearing as a compact H II region, along with weak FIR sources that may be B0-star candidates.

Odenwald, S. F.↗
NASA NTRS1988

The ultraviolet spectra of M31 globular clusters

Ultraviolet spectra of 11 of the brightest globular clusters in M31 show that some exhibit residual flux below 3000 A, greater than that expected from the bright, evolved stars in the cluster. There seems to be no apparent correlation of the strength of this ultraviolet flux with parameters such as metallicity, U-B color, visual magnitude, X-ray emission, or location within the parent galaxy. However, comparison of the ultraviolet colors of the M31 globular clusters with those in the Galaxy and in the Large Magellanic Cloud suggests that the M31 clusters may contain a high percentage of blue horizontal-branch stars or that some clusters could be as young as about 2 x 10 to the 9th yr.

Cowley, A. P.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Ultraviolet studies of O and B stars in the LMC cluster NGC 2100, the SMC cluster NGC 330 and the Galactic cluster NGC 6530

High-resolution and low-resolution IUE spectra of O and B stars in the LMC cluster NGC 2100, the SMC cluster NGC 330, and the young Galactic cluster NGC 6530 are investigated. Temperatures and luminosities are determined. In the LMC and SMC clusters, the most luminous stars are evolved stars on the horizontal supergiant branch, while in NGC 6530 the stars are all still on the main sequence. Extinction laws were determined. They confirm the known differences between LMC and Galactic extinctions. No mass loss was detected for the evolved B stars in the LMC and SMC clusters, while the high-luminosity stars in NGC 6530 show P Cygni profiles.

Boehm-Vitense, E.↗
NASA NTRS1993

The distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud - Constraints from Cepheids in Large Magellanic Cloud star clusters

We have used recent observational data for the Cepheids in the rich, young LMC clusters NGC 1866 and NGC 2031 to constrain the cluster distances with the mass-equivalency (ME) method. The basis of this approach is to fix the cluster distances by requiring the Cepheid evolutionary and pulsational masses to be equal. Using evolutionary models incorporating a mild amount of core and envelope overshooting along with recent pulsational models, we derive distance moduli of 18.51 +/- 0.21 and 18.32 +/- 0.20 for NGC 1866 and NGC 2031, respectively. The quoted errors are dominated by the uncertainties in the heavy element abundances of the clusters (assumed to be 0.3 dex for both clusters), with a smaller contribution due to the apparently intrinsic spread in the masses of the Cepheids in each cluster. For the ME method, we find that Delta(m-M)(0)/Delta sub Z(1) = 0.69, where Z(1) = log (Z/0.016). This result implies that the cluster distances can be determined to better than +/- 5 percent if the cluster abundances can be measured to better than about +/- 0.15 dex.

Bertelli, Gianpaolo↗
NASA NTRS1984

Ultraviolet spectroscopy of hot young stars with infrared excesses - NGC 2264-W46, W90, and W100

New ultraviolet data are combined with optical data to investigate the wavelength-dependent extinction of the stars W46, W90, and W100 in the young galactic cluster NGC 2264. The observations of W90 confirm the existence of anomalous (circumstellar) dust extinction with a ratio of total to selective extinction, R greater than 7. This extinction is most easily explained by a graphite-silicate mixture with larger mean sizes than are present in the diffuse interstellar medium. For W46 and W100, the grains are likely to be gray, but the possibility of nongray extinction cannot be excluded because of uncertainties arising from the very small ultraviolet optical depths of the circumstellar dust.

Meade, M. R.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Nuclear Star Formation in the Hot-Spot Galaxy NGC 2903

We present high-resolution near-infrared imaging obtained using adaptive optics and HST/NICMOS and ground-based spectroscopy of the hot-spot galaxy NGC 2903. Our near-infrared resolution imaging enables us to resolve the infrared hot spots into individual young stellar clusters or groups of these. The spatial distribution of the stellar clusters is not coincident with that of the bright H II regions, as revealed by the HST/NICMOS Pace image. Overall, the circumnuclear star formation in NGC 2903 shows a ring-like morphology with an approximate diameter of 625 pc. The SF properties of the stellar clusters and H II regions have been studied using the photometric and spectroscopic information in conjunction with evolutionary synthesis models. The population of bright stellar clusters shows a very narrow range of ages, 4 to 7 x 10(exp 6) yr after the peak of star formation, or absolute ages 6.5 to 9.5 x 10(exp 6) yr (for the assumed short-duration Gaussian bursts), and luminosities similar to the clusters found in the Antennae interacting galaxy. This population of young stellar clusters accounts for some 7 - 12% of the total stellar mass in the central 625 pc of NGC 2903. The H II regions in the ring of star formation have luminosities close to that of the super-giant H II region 30 Doradus, they are younger than the stellar clusters, and will probably evolve into bright infrared stellar clusters similar to those observed today. We find that the star formation efficiency in the central regions of NGC 2903 is higher than in normal galaxies, approaching the lower end of infrared luminous galaxies.

Alonso-Herrero, A.↗
NASA NTRS2012

The Resolved Stellar Population in 50 Regions of M83 from HST/WFC3 Early Release Science Observations

We present a multi-wavelength photometric study of approximately 15,000 resolved stars in the nearby spiral galaxy M83 (NGC 5236, D = 4.61 Mpc) based on Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 observations using four filters: F336W, F438W, F555W, and F814W. We select 50 regions (an average size of 260 pc by 280 pc) in the spiral arm and inter-arm areas of M83 and determine the age distribution of the luminous stellar populations in each region. This is accomplished by correcting for extinction toward each individual star by comparing its colors with predictions from stellar isochrones.We compare the resulting luminosity-weighted mean ages of the luminous stars in the 50 regions with those determined from several independent methods, including the number ratio of red-to-blue supergiants, morphological appearance of the regions, surface brightness fluctuations, and the ages of clusters in the regions. We find reasonably good agreement between these methods. We also find that young stars are much more likely to be found in concentrated aggregates along spiral arms, while older stars are more dispersed. These results are consistent with the scenario that star formation is associated with the spiral arms, and stars form primarily in star clusters and then disperse on short timescales to form the field population. The locations ofWolf-Rayet stars are found to correlate with the positions of many of the youngest regions, providing additional support for our ability to accurately estimate ages. We address the effects of spatial resolution on the measured colors, magnitudes, and age estimates. While individual stars can occasionally show measurable differences in the colors and magnitudes, the age estimates for entire regions are only slightly affected.

Hubble Space Telescope↗
NASA NTRS2004

Disk Dispersal Around Young Stars

We first review the evidence pertaining to the lifetimes of planet-forming disks of gas and dust around young stars and discuss possible disk dispersal mechanisms: 1) viscous accretion of material onto the central source, 2) close stellar encounters, 3) stellar winds, and 4) photoevaporation caused by the heating of the disk surface by ultraviolet radiation. Photoevaporation is likely the most important dispersal mechanism for the outer regions of disks, and this talk focuses on the evaporation caused by the presence of a nearby, luminous star rather than the central star itself. We also focus on disks around low-mass stars like the Sun rather than high-mass stars, which we have treated previously. Stars often form in clusters and the ultraviolet flux from the most luminous star in the cluster can have a dramatic effect on the disk orbiting a nearby low-mass star. We apply our theoretical models to the evaporating protoplanetary disks (or "proplyds") in the Trapezium cluster in Orion, to the formation of gas giant planets like Jupiter around Sun-like stars in the Galaxy, and to the formation of Kuiper belts around low mass stars. We find a possible explanation for the differences between Neptune and Jupiter, and make a prediction concerning recent searches for giant planets in large clusters. We discuss recent models of the infrared spectra from gaseous disks around young stars.

Hollenbach, David↗
NASA NTRS1989

The stellar content of rich young clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Initial mass functions (IMFs) of six young rich clusters in the LMC have been determined from star counts on photographic plates with different limiting magnitudes. Over the range of stellar masses from 1.5 to 6 solar masses, very flat IMF slopes between -0.2 and 0.8 are found. Possible explanations for the discrepancy between these results and those of Mateo (1988), who found step IMFs for a different sample of clusters in the Magellanic Clouds, are considered, and no obvious ones are found. The flat IMFs imply smaller mass-to-light ratios than previously assumed and reinforce previous conclusions that the clusters have unbound halos. Flat IMFs also imply that stellar winds would have been very important in restructuring and expelling the gas from a protocluster and that there would have been many supernovae early in the history of a supercluster.

Elson, Rebecca A. W.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Brown dwarfs in young stellar clusters

The present calculations of the early evolution of brown dwarfs and very low mass stars (LMSs) yield isochrones spanning 0.01-0.2 solar masses for ages in the 1 to 300 million year range. Since the brown dwarfs remain sharply segregated in T(eff) from LMSs for ages of less than 100 million years, it follows that for coeval populations of known age, a domain exists in the H-R diagram in which only brown dwarfs exist. These theoretical results are compared with recent observations of the Pleiades brown dwarf candidates, using two new sets of color-T(eff) transformations. Both sets yield consistent interpretations.

Stringfellow, Guy S.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Lithium Abundances in the Young Open Cluster IC 2602

We have obtained high-resolution spectra for 28 candidate late-type stars in the 30 Myr old cluster IC 2602. NLTE Li abundances have been derived from measured equivalent widths. The log n(Li) - T(sub eff) and log n(Li) - mass distributions for our sample stars have been compared with those of the Pleiades and alpha Persei. Our data show that F stars in the three clusters have the same lithium content, which corresponds to the initial content for Pop. I stars. G and early-K IC 2602 stars are, on average, somewhat more Li-rich than their counterparts in the two slightly older clusters. Finally, the latest-type IC 2602 stars are heavily Li depleted, with their Li content being as low as the lowest measured among the Pleiades. As in the Pleiades and alpha Per, a star-to-star scatter in lithium is observed among 30 Myr old late-K/early-K dwarfs in IC 2602, indicating that this spread develops in the pre-main sequence phases.

Randich, S.↗
NASA NTRS1991

A 21 centimeter line survey of a region around four outer galaxy open clusters

To investigate the role of atomic gas in the interaction of massive stars with the interstellar medium, a 21 cm survey was made of a region surrounding four young, outer Galaxy open clusters, NGC 281, 433, 436, and 457. A rectangular area ranging in Galactic longitude from 115 to 133 deg, and in latitude from -10 to -1 deg, was observed with the NRAO 140 foot telescope. Most of this region was fully sampled, resulting in spatial resolution equal to the telescope's 21 arcmin beamwidth. The data are presented as longitude-latitude and latitude-velocity contour maps. A catalog of atomic gas features (e.g., clouds, filaments, and shells) is given.

Leisawitz, David↗
NASA NTRS1992

Galactic OB associations in the northern Milky Way Galaxy. I - Longitudes 55 deg to 150 deg

The literature on all OB associations was reviewed, and their IRAS point source content was studied, between galactic longitude 55 and 150 deg. Only one third of the 24 associations listed by Ruprecht et al. (1981) have been the subject of individual studies designed to identify the brightest stars. Distances to all of these were recomputed using the method of cluster fitting of the B main sequence stars, which makes it poossible to reexamine the absolute magnitude calibration of the O stars, as well as for the red supergiant candidate stars. Also examined was the composite HR diagram for these associations. Associations with the best defined main sequences, which also tend to contain very young clusters, referred to here as OB clusters, have extremely few evolved B and A or red supergiants. Associations with poorly defined main sequences and few OB clusters have many more evolved stars. They also show an effect in the upper HR diagram referred to as a ledge by Fitzpatrick and Garmany (1990) in similar data for the Large Magellanic Cloud. It is suggested that the differences in the associations are not just observational selection effects but represent real differences in age and formation history.

Garmany, C. D.↗
NASA NTRS1992

MR Persei - A new rotating, spotted flare star

Spectroscopy and photometry are used to show that MR Persei, an object originally classified as a dwarf nova, is in fact a flare star. The automated CCD photometry consists of sequences of exposures within a single night as well as long-term photometry over a five-month interval. One sequence shows a 30-min flare, accompanied by post-flare 'dips'. A 0.2 mag variation with a period of about one-half day is also seen in this sequence. The long-term photometry is used to refine the period to 0.45483 d, which we attribute to the rotation of a spotted star. Evidence for membership of MR Per in the young Alpha Per cluster is considered, and found to be inconclusive.

Honeycutt, R. K.↗