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arXiv 0710.0774astro-ph
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小麦哲伦星云中的NGC 346。III。明亮的HII区N 66中最近的恒星形成和星团性质

NGC 346 in the Small Magellanic Cloud. III. Recent Star Formation and Stellar Clustering Properties in the Bright HII Region N 66

Eva Hennekemper, Dimitrios A. Gouliermis, Thomas Henning, Wolfgang Brandner, Andrew E. Dolphin

摘要:

在我们对小麦哲伦星云(SMC)中的恒星形成区NGC 346/N66及其周围区域的测光研究的第三部分中,我们主要关注哈勃空间望远镜用高级巡天照相机观测到的大量低质量主序前恒星。我们研究了在$V-I$、$V$ CMD中观察到的前主序列群体增宽的起源。最有可能的解释是存在不同的红化现象,或者是年轻恒星的年龄分布。假设后者,模拟表明我们不能排除NGC 346中的恒星可能分别在大约1000万年前和500万年前的两次不同事件中形成的可能性。我们发现PMS恒星并不是均匀分布在NGC 346上,而是至少分为五个不同的星团。在0.8 $''$到8 $''$的空间尺度上(在SMC的距离上为0.24到2.4 pc),PMS星的聚类由两点角关联函数计算,具有幂律斜率$γ\approx -0.3$。星团的性质与猎户座OB或$ρ$ Oph等银河系恒星形成区非常相似。因此,SMC中的分子云碎裂似乎与银河系中的分子云碎裂在相同的空间尺度上进行。考虑到SMC和银河系恒星形成区之间金属丰度的差异以及由此产生的尘埃含量,这是值得注意的。

英文摘要:

In the third part of our photometric study of the star-forming region NGC 346/N~66 and its surrounding field in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), we focus on the large number of low-mass pre-main sequence (PMS) stars revealed by the Hubble Space Telescope Observations with the Advanced Camera for Surveys. We investigate the origin of the observed broadening of the pre-main sequence population in the $V-I$, $V$ CMD. The most likely explanations are either the presence of differential reddening or an age spread among the young stars. Assuming the latter, simulations indicate that we cannot exclude the possibility that stars in NGC 346 might have formed in two distinct events occurring about 10 and 5 Myr ago, respectively. We find that the PMS stars are not homogeneously distributed across NGC 346, but instead are grouped in at least five different clusters. On spatial scales from 0.8$''$ to 8$''$ (0.24 to 2.4 pc at the distance of the SMC) the clustering of the PMS stars as computed by a two-point angular correlation function is self-similar with a power law slope $γ\approx -0.3$. The clustering properties are quite similar to Milky Way star forming regions like Orion OB or $ρ$ Oph. Thus molecular cloud fragmentation in the SMC seems to proceed on the same spatial scales as in the Milky Way. This is remarkable given the differences in metallicity and hence dust content between SMC and Milky Way star forming regions.

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