NGC 6611 is the massive young cluster (2-3 Myr) that ionises the Eagle Nebula. We present very deep photometric observations of the central region of NGC 6611 obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope and the following filters: ACS/WFC F775W and F850LP and NIC2 F110W and F160W, loosely equivalent to ground-based IZJH filters. This survey reaches down to I ~ 26 mag. We construct the Initial Mass Function (IMF) from ~ 1.5 Msun well into the brown dwarf regime (down to ~ 0.02 Msun). We have detected 30-35 brown dwarf candidates in this sample. The low-mass IMF is combined with a higher-mass IMF constructed from the groundbased catalogue from Oliveira et al. (2005). We compare the final IMF with those of well studied star forming regions: we find that the IMF of NGC 6611 more closely resembles that of the low-mass star forming region in Taurus than that of the more massive Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC). We conclude that there seems to be no severe environmental effect in the IMF due to the proximity of the massive stars in NGC 6611.
As a result of bidimensional spectroscopy of the central parts of two nearby lenticular galaxies, NGC 1023 and NGC 7332, undertaken with the Multi-Pupil Field Spectrograph of the 6m telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory, their chemically decoupled stellar nuclei are found to be substantially younger than the surrounding bulges: the mean age of the nuclear stellar populations is 7 billion years in NGC 1023 and 2.5 +/- 0.5 billion years in NGC 7332. The morphological analysis undertaken by Seifert and Scorza (1996) for NGC 7332 and by us for NGC 1023 has revealed a existence of sepa…
We announce the discovery of six Beta Cephei stars and many other variable stars in the young open cluster h Persei (NGC 869). The cluster seems to be very rich in variable B-type stars, similarly to its twin, Chi Persei (NGC 884).
We report the analysis of the young star clusters NGC 1960, NGC 2453 and NGC 2384 observed in the $J$ (1.12 $μ$m), $H$ (1.65 $μ$m) and $K^{'}$ (2.2 $μ$m) bands. Estimates of reddening, distance and age as $E(B-V)=0.25$, $d= 1380$ pc and $t=31.6$ to 125 Myr for NGC 1960, $E(B-V)=0.47$, $d=3311$ pc and $t=40$ to 200 Myr for NGC 2453 and $E(B-V)=0.25$, $d=3162$ pc and $t=55$ to 125 Myr for NGC 2384 have been obtained. Also, we have extended the color--magnitude diagrams of these clusters to the fainter end and thus extended the luminosity functions to fainter magnitudes. The evolution of the main…
We have conducted a $UBVRI$ and $H_α$ CCD photometry of 5 barred galaxies, NGC 2523, NGC 2950, NGC 3412, NGC 3945 and NGC 5383, along with SPH simulations, in order to understand the origin of young stellar populations in the nuclei of barred galaxies. The $H_α$ emissions which are thought to be emitted by young stellar populations are either absent or strongly concentrated on the nuclei of early type galaxies (NGC 2950, NGC 3412, NGC 3945), while they are observed in the nuclei and circumnuclear regions of intermediate type galaxies with strong bars (NGC 2523, NGC 5383). SPH simulations of re…
I present light curves for two detached eclipsing binary stars in the region of the LMC cluster NGC 1850, which is possibly a young globular cluster still in formation. One, a likely spectral type O star, is a newly detected eclipsing binary in the region of the very young subcluster NGC 1850A. This binary is among a small number of highly massive O-type stars in binary systems found in LMC clusters. These two eclipsing binaries are the first discovered in the well studied NGC 1850, and the O-type star is the first eclisping binary found in NGC 1850A. Light curves for two NGC 1850 region Cephe…
Two absorption line indices, Ca II and Hdelta/FeI4045, measured from high resolution spectra are used with evolutionary synthesis models to verify the presence of a young stellar population in NGC 5018. The derived age of this population is about ~2.8 Gyr with a metallicity roughly solar and it completely dominates the integrated light of the galaxy near 4000 A.
We present CCD photometric and mass function study of 9 young Large Magellanic Cloud star clusters namely NGC 1767, NGC 1994, NGC 2002, NGC 2003, NGC 2006, SL 538, NGC 2011, NGC 2098 and NGC 2136. The BVRI data reaching down to V ~ 21 mag, are collected from 3.5-meter NTT/EFOSC2 in sub-arcsec seeing conditions. For NGC 1767, NGC 1994, NGC 2002, NGC 2003, NGC 2011 and NGC 2136, broad band photometric CCD data are presented for the first time. Seven of the 9 clusters have ages between 16 to 25 Myr while remaining two clusters have ages $32\pm4$ Myr (NGC 2098) and $90\pm10$ Myr (NGC 2136). For 7 …
We review the properties of the very young (2 Myr) open cluster NGC6383. The cluster is dominated by the massive binary HD159176 (O7V + O7V). The distance to NGC6383 is consistently found to be 1.3 +- 0.1 kpc and the average reddening is determined to be E(B-V) = 0.32 +- 0.02. Several pre-main sequence candidates have been identified using different criteria relying on the detection of emission lines, infrared excesses, photometric variability and X-ray emission.
We present results of the search for variable stars in the field of young open cluster NGC 581. Based on 19 nights of observations, 6 new variable stars were discovered. Two of them turned out to be eclipsing binary systems. Another two detected variable stars are most probably of gamma Dor type. During our observations one of the known Be stars located in our field of view showed irregular variations of brightness, typical for this class of stars. The sixth variable star is a pulsating red giant.
We present a study of mass segregation of the young (20-35 Myr isochronal age), open cluster NGC 2547. We find good evidence that mass segregation exists in NGC 2547 down to 3 Msun, and weak evidence for mass segregation down to 1 Msun. Theoretical models of an initially unsegregated model of NGC 2547 using the NBODY2 code show weaker mass segregation, implying that at least some of the observed mass segregation has a primordial origin. We also report the discovery of three possible escaped cluster members, which share the proper motion and colours of the cluster, but lie nearly a degree from …
We present Keck/LRIS spectra for 11 old globular clusters in the S0-type galaxy NGC 1023 and 2 young blue clusters in the nearby companion NGC 1023A. Analysis of the spectra of 7 old clusters with sufficient S/N shows generally good agreement between spectroscopic and previous photometric metallicity estimates, but the integrated colors of two clusters are too blue for their spectroscopic metallicities. Although the cluster ages are not well constrained, they are most likely similar to those of Milky Way globular clusters and certainly older than about 5 Gyr. The brightest GC in the sample sho…
We present the data and methods that we have used to perform a detailed UV-optical study of the nearby dwarf starburst galaxy NGC 4214 using multifilter HST/WFPC2+STIS photometry. We explain the process followed to obtain high-quality photometry and astrometry of the stellar and cluster populations of this galaxy. We describe the procedure used to transform magnitudes and colors into physical parameters using spectral energy distributions. The data show the existence of both young and old stellar populations that can be resolved at the distance of NGC 4214 (2.94 Mpc) and we perform a general d…
We present a study of the star cluster associated with the massive Galactic HII region NGC3603 based on near-IR broad-- and narrowband observations taken with ISAAC/VLT under excellent seeing conditions (<0.4''). We discuss color-color diagrams and address the impact of the high UV flux on the disk evolution of the low-mass stars.
BVI photometry (from South Africa Astron. Obs.), Echelle high resolution spectroscopy and AFOSC integral field spectroscopy (from Asiago, Italy) of the young open cluster NGC 6604 are presented. Age, distance, reddening, membership, radial and rotational velocities are derived and discussed. An age of 5 million years, a distance of 1.7 kpc and a reddening E(B-V)=1.02 are found. The cluster radial velocity is in agreement with the Hron (1987) model for the Galaxy disk rotation. Pre-ZAMS objects are not present down to M_V = +1.5 mag.
The spectral and extinction properties of 14 pre-main sequence candidates in the central part of the very young open cluster NGC 6383 were investigated. None of these stars shows evidence for anomalous circumstellar extinction. However, six out of 14 programme stars do show an infrared excess, indicative of the presence of circumstellar dust, heated up by the central star. One of these stars (number 4), also shows Halpha in emission and shows some indications for the presence of circumstellar gas in its spectrum, and might therefore be a newly identified Herbig Ae star.
The no-longer-eclipsing system SS Lac in the young open cluster NGC 7209 has been recently announced to show a constant radial velocity. Puzzled by this finding, we have monitored the system during 1997 obtaining 24 Echelle+CCD spectra over 8 orbital revolutions. Our spectra reveal a nice orbital motion with periodic splitting and merging of spectral lines from both components. An accurate orbit has been derived, together with individual masses of the stars. SS Lac presents a moderately eccentric orbit and a probably full synchronization between stellar rotation and orbital revolution.
We present colour-magnitude diagrams for two rich (~10^4 Msun) Large Magellanic Cloud star clusters with ages ~10^7 years, constructed from optical and near-infrared data obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. These data are part of an HST project to study LMC clusters with a range of ages. In this paper we investigate the massive star content of the young clusters, and determine the cluster ages and metallicities, paying particular attention to Be star and blue straggler populations and evidence of age spreads. We compare our data to detailed stellar population simulations to investigate t…
In this Work we report, for the extreme starburst in the IR merger NGC 3256: (i) The detection of 4 galactic bubbles, associated with SN explosions.(ii) The first analysis of the spatial distribution of young star clusters (YSC) candidates.(iii) The kinematic study of the ionized gas in the core of of the main optical nucleus, performed with HST STIS spectra. The shape of the rotation curve and the emission line profile could be explained by the presence in the core of YSC with outflow.
The blue star reported in the field of the young LMC cluster NGC1818 by Elson et al. (1998) has the wrong luminosity and radius to be a "luminous white dwarf" member of the cluster. In addition, unless the effective temperature quoted by the authors is a drastic underestimate, the luminosity is much too low for it to be a cluster member in the post-AGB phase. Other possibilities, including that of binary evolution, are briefly discussed. However, the implication that the massive main sequence turnoff stars in this cluster can produce white dwarfs (instead of neutron stars) from single-star evo…
We continue our study of rich Galactic clusters by presenting deep CCD observations of both NGC 2168 (M35) and NGC 2323 (M50). Both clusters are found to be rich (NGC 2168 contains at least 1000 stars brighter than V = 22 and NGC 2323 contains approximately 2100 stars brighter than our photometric limit of V = 23) and young (age of NGC 2168 = 180 Myrs, age of NGC 2323 = 130 Myrs). The color-magnitude diagrams for the clusters exhibit clear main sequences stretching over 14 magnitudes in the V, B-V plane. Comparing these long main sequences with those of earlier clusters in the survey, as well …
We present photometry in the J and K near-infrared bands for two regions centered on the young open clusters NGC 1893 and Berkeley 86. We study 700 stars down to K = 17 in the field of NGC 1893, and about 2000 stars in the field of Berkeley 86 down to K$\sim$ 16.5, for which near-infrared photometry was insofar not available. Coupling J-K data with UBV photometry taken from literature, we produce reddening corrected colour-magnitude diagrams. We find that our data are consistent with previous determinations: the clusters are roughly coeval with an age between 4 and 6 million years. The mean re…
We present wide-field optical imaging covering the entire neutral hydrogen disc of the Local Group dwarf galaxy NGC 6822. These observations reveal the presence of numerous blue, young stars at large galactocentric radii well beyond R_25. Blue stars are also found that are associated with NGC 6822's companion HI cloud, indicating that star formation was triggered in the companion in the last 10^8 yr. In general, blue stars are present where the HI surface densities reach values > 5 x 10^20 cm^(-2). However, over one-third of the blue stars detected are found at lower surface densities. The you…
We derive the proper motions, membership probabilities, and velocity dispersions of stars in the regions of the young (about 2-4 Myr-old) open clusters NGC 2244 (the central cluster in the Monoceros R2 association) and NGC 6530 (the dominant cluster in the Sgr OB1 association) from photographic plate material obtained at Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, with time baselines of 34 and 87 years, respectively. Both clusters show clear evidence of mass segregation, but they do not exhibit any significant velocity-mass (or, equivalently, a velocity-luminosity) dependence. This provides strong supp…
In this paper, using 2MASS photometry, we study the structural and dynamical properties of four young star clusters viz. King 16, NGC 1931, NGC 637 and NGC 189. For the clusters King 16, NGC 1931, NGC 637 and NGC 189, we obtain the limiting radii of 7', 12', 6' and 5' which correspond to linear radii of 3.6 pc, 8.85 pc, 3.96 pc and 2.8 pc respectively. The reddening values $E(B-V)$ obtained for the clusters are 0.85, 0.65--0.85, 0.6 and 0.53 and their true distances are 1786 pc, 3062 pc, 2270 pc and 912 pc respectively. Ages of the clusters are 6 Myr, 4 Myr, 4 Myr and 10 Myr respectively. We c…
Context: Recent spectropolarimetric observations of Herbig Ae/Be stars have yielded new arguments in favour of a fossil origin for the magnetic fields of intermediate mass stars. Aims: To study the evolution of these magnetic fields, and their impact on the evolution of the angular momentum of these stars during the pre-main sequence phase, we observed Herbig Ae/Be members of young open clusters of various ages. Methods: We obtained high-resolution spectropolarimetric observations of Herbig Ae/Be stars belonging to the young open clusters NGC 6611 (< 6 Myr), NGC 2244 (~1.9 Myr), and NGC 2264 (…
We present UBV CCD observations obtained in the field of the northern open cluster NGC 1220, for which little information is available. We provide also BV CCD photometry of a field 5$^{\prime}$ northward of NGC 1220 to take into account field star contamination. We argue that NGC 1220 is a young compact open cluster, for which we estimate a core radius in the range $1.5-2.0$ arcmin. We identify 26 likely candidate members with spectral type earlier than $A5$, down to $V_o$=15.00 mag on the basis of the position in the two-colour Diagram and in the Colour Magnitude Diagrams (CMDs). By analyzing…
We present results of a Chandra observation of a field in NGC 2264. The observations were taken with the ACIS-I camera with an exposure time of 48.1 ks. We present a catalog of 263 sources, which includes X-ray luminosity, optical and infrared photometry and X-ray variability information. We found 41 variable sources, 14 of which have a flare-like light curve, and 2 of which have a pattern of a steady increase or decrease over a 10 hour period. The optical and infrared photometry for the stars identified as X-ray sources are consistent with most of these objects being pre-main sequence stars w…
The extinction law and the variation of colour excess with position, luminosity as well as spectral class in young open star clusters NGC 663, NGC869, NGC 884, NGC 1502, NGC 1893, NGC 2244, NGC 2264, NGC 6611, Tr 14, Tr 15,Tr 16, Coll 228, Tr 37 and Be 86 have been studied. The difference in the minimum and maximum values of E(B-V) of cluster members has been considered as a measure of the presence of non-uniform gas and dust inside the clusters. Its value ranges from 0.22 to 1.03 mag in clusters under study, which indicates that non-uniform extinction is present in all the clusters. It has be…
We have carried out Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 F160BW, F555W and F656N imaging of four young populous clusters: NGC 330 in the Small Magellanic Cloud and NGC 1818, NGC 2004 and NGC 2100 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. We report photometric results for these four clusters, including identification using photometric colours of the cluster Be star population. We present theoretical WFPC2 and broad band colours and bolometric corrections for LMC and SMC metallicities. The use of the far-UV F160BW filter enables accurate determination of the effective temperatures for stars in the vicinity of the…
We combine existing multiwavelength data (incl. an HST/GHRS UV spectrum, an optical spectrum, far-IR, Xray and radio fluxes) with new HST/WFPC2 images, near-IR photometry and K band spectroscopy. We use these data to constrain the young, the intermediate age and the old stellar populations in the central 330 pc of the starburst galaxy NGC 7714. [...] We find that the young burst responsible for the UV light is only a small part of an extended episode of enhanced star formation (SF) [...]. The mass of young and intermediate age stars thus formed equals at least 10% of the mass locked in pre-exi…
We present multiband photometric observations of three spiral galaxies selected in a sample suited for the study of young stellar groupings and their relationship with the parent galaxy and the galactic environment. Star forming regions have been identified using an objective technique based on a multivariate statistical analysis. Maps of young star groupings are given for each galaxy. The luminosity functions of the young star group populations show a remarkable similarity with a slope in the range -1.52 to -1.33 range. The size distributions peak around the classical 100pc value of the Local…
We report on a deep X-ray survey of the young (~ 140 Myr), rich open cluster NGC 2516 obtained with the EPIC camera on board the XMM-Newton satellite. By combining data from six observations, a high sensitivity, greater than a factor 5 with respect to recent Chandra observations, has been achieved. We detected 431 X-ray sources and 234 of them have as optical counterparts cluster stars spanning the entire NGC 2516 Main Sequence. The X-ray luminosities of cluster stars span the range log Lx (erg/s) = 28.4 - 30.8. The representative temperatures span the 0.3 - 0.6 keV (3.5 - 8 MK) range for the …
NGC 663 is a young, moderately rich open cluster, known to contain one of the largest fractions of Be stars among all galactic clusters. In this work we present CCD uvby-beta photometry for stars in its central area. We have used these data to obtain the main cluster physical parameters. We find that the reddening is highly variable, with values ranging from E(b-y)=0.639+/-0.032 in the central part to E(b-y)=0.555+/-0.038 in the south-east. The distance modulus is found to be 11.6+/-0.1 mag.(2.1 Kpc), and the age log t=7.4+/-0.1 years (25+7/-5 Myr). The age obtained is consistent with the inte…
A globular cluster ~15 My old that contains 5x10^5 Msun of stars inside an 11 pc radius has been found in the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 6946, surrounded by clouds of dust and smaller young clusters inside a giant circular bubble 300 pc in radius. At the edge of the bubble is an arc of regularly-spaced clusters that could have been triggered during the bubble's formation. The region is at the end of a spiral arm, suggesting an origin by the asymmetric collapse of spiral arm gas. The globular is one of the nearest examples of a cluster that is similar to the massive old globulars in the Milky Way…
The first CCD UBV(RI) photometric study in the area of the doubtful open cluster NGC 2129 is presented. Photometry of a field offset 15 arcmin northward is also provided, to probe the Galactic disk population toward the cluster. Using star counts, proper motions from the UCAC2 catalog, colour-magnitude and colour-colour diagrams we demonstrate that NGC 2129 is a young open cluster. The cluster radius is 2.5 arcmin, and across this region we find evidence of significant differential reddening, although the reddening law seems to be normal toward its direction. Updated estimates of the cluster f…
We present broad-band infrared photometry for 52 late-type supergiants in the young Magellanic Clouds clusters NGC 330, NGC 1818, NGC 2004 and NGC 2100. Standard models are seen to differ in the temperature they predict for the red supergiant population on the order of 300K. It appears that these differences most probably due to the calibration of the mixing-length parameter, $α_{P}$, in the outermost layers of the stellar envelope. Due to the apparent model dependent nature of $α_{P}$ we do not quantitatively compare $α_{P}$ between models. Qualitatively, we find that $α_{P}$ decreases with i…
We present the results of a search for Be stars in six fields centered on the young clusters NGC 330 and NGC 346 in the SMC, and NGC 1818, NGC 1948, NGC 2004 and NGC 2100 in the LMC. Be stars were identified by differencing R band and narrow-band H$α$ CCD images. Our comparatively large images provide substantial Be star populations both within the clusters and in their surrounding fields. Magnitudes, positions and finding charts are given for the 224 Be stars found. The fraction of Be stars to normal B stars within each cluster is found to vary significantly although the average ratio is simi…
We present some results of the application of our automatic technique for the identification of Young Star Groupings (YSGs) in spiral galaxies. In this report we discuss our new results for NGC 3377a and NGC 3507 together with previously published data of NGC 7217, NGC 1058 and UGC 12732. The aim of this ongoing research is to obtain a wide sample of homogeneous data for the study of the YSGs and their relationships with the properties of their parent galaxies, using only objective identifications.
We use high-resolution {\sl Hubble Space Telescope} imaging observations of the young ($\sim 15-25$ Myr-old) star cluster NGC 1818 in the Large Magellanic Cloud to derive an estimate for the binary fraction of F stars ($1.3 < M_\star/M_\odot < 1.6$). This study provides the strongest constraints yet on the binary fraction in a young star cluster in a low-metallicity environment (${[Fe/H]} \sim -0.4$ dex). Employing artificial-star tests, we develop a simple method that can efficiently measure the probabilities of stellar blends and superpositions from the observed stellar catalog. We create sy…
The young populous cluster NGC 1866 in the Large Magellanic Cloud LMC), which is probably one of the most massive object formed in the LMC during the last ~ 3 Gyr, appears to have an unexpectedly high mass-to-light ratio. From its velocity dispersion Fischer et al. (1992) find its mass to be (1.35 " 0.25) x 105 Mu. The luminosity of this cluster is MV = -8.93 " 0.13, corresponding to LV = (3.2 " 0.4) x 105 LV (u). This yields M/LV = 0.42 " 0.09 in solar units. For a cluster of age 0.1 Gyr such a relatively high mass-to-light ratio requires a mass spectrum with an exponent x = 1.72 " 0.09; or x…
Using the NIRSPEC spectrograph at Keck II, we have obtained H and K-band echelle spectra for a young (10-15 Myr), luminous (MV=-13.2) super-star cluster in the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 6946. From spectral synthesis and equivalent width measurements we obtain for the first time accurate abundances and abundance patterns in an extragalactic super-star cluster. We find [Fe/H]=-0.45+/-0.08 dex, an average alpha-enhancement of +0.22+/-0.1 dex, and a relatively low 12C/13C~ 8+/-2 isotopic ratio. We also measure a velocity dispersion of ~9.1 km/s, in agreement with previous estimates. We conclude tha…
We have carried out WFPC2 V- and I-band imaging of the young LMC cluster NGC 2157. Construction of a color-magnitude diagram and isochrone fitting yields an age of tau = 100 000 000 yrs, a reddening E(B-V) = 0.1 and a distance modulus of 18.4 mag. Our data covers the mass range 0.75 < m < 5.1 solar masses. We find that the cluster mass function changes significantly from the inner regions to the outer regions, becoming steeper (larger number of low mass stars relative to high mass stars) at larger radii. The age of NGC 2157 is comparable to its two-body relaxation timescale only in the cluster…
Stellar streams in galaxy halos are the natural consequence of a history of merging and accretion. We present evidence for a blue tidal stream of young stars in the nearest giant elliptical galaxy, NGC 5128 (Centaurus A). Using optical UBVR color maps, unsharp masking, and adaptive histogram equalization, we detect a blue arc in the northwest portion of the galaxy that traces a partial ellipse with an apocenter of 8 kpc. We also report the discovery of numerous young star clusters that are associated with the arc. The brightest of these clusters is spectroscopically confirmed, has an age of 35…
We present spectra of the brightest member of the population of compact blue objects discovered in the peculiar galaxy NGC 1275 by Holtzman et al. using Hubble Space Telescope images. These spectra show strong Balmer absorption lines like those observed in A-type stars, as expected if the object is a young globular cluster. The age estimated from the strength of the Balmer lines is about 0.5 Gyr, although ages ranging from 0.1 Gyr to 0.9 Gyr can not be confidently excluded given current models of stellar populations. If these estimated ages are adopted for the young cluster population of NGC 1…
We have obtained 1-2 A resolution optical Echellette spectra of the nuclear star cluster in the nearby starburst galaxy NGC 4449. The light is clearly dominated by a very young (6-10 Myr) population of stars. For our age dating, we have used recent population synthesis models to interpret the observed equivalent width of stellar absorption features such as the HI Balmer series and the CaII triplet around 8500 A. We also compare the observed spectrum of the nuclear cluster to synthesized spectra of simple stellar populations of varying ages. All these approaches yield a consistent cluster age. …
This paper presents new images and spectroscopy of NGC 34 (Mrk 938) obtained with the du Pont 2.5-m and Baade 6.5-m telescopes at Las Campanas, plus photometry of an HST archival V image. This Mv = -21.6 galaxy has often been classified as a Seyfert 2, yet recently published infrared spectra suggest a dominant central starburst. We find that the galaxy features a single nucleus, a main spheroid containing a blue central disk, and tidal tails indicative of two former disk galaxies. These galaxies appear to have completed merging. The remnant shows three clear optical signs that the merger was g…
We present a mid-infrared study of NGC 3576. The high-resolution images were taken at the Gemini South Observatory through narrow and broad band filters centered between 7.9 micron and 18 micron. The nearly diffraction limited images show IRS 1 resolved into 4 sources for the first time in the 10 micron band. The positions of the sources are coincident with massive young stellar objects detected previously in the near infrared. The properties of each object, such as spectral energy distribution, silicate absorption feature, color temperature and luminosities were obtained and are discussed. We…
We present Gemini optical spectroscopy of three young star clusters in the western tidal tail of NGC3256. Compact star clusters (as opposed to dwarf-galaxy candidates) in tidal tails are rare, with these three clusters the first for which detailed quantitative spectroscopy has ever been obtained. We find that two of these clusters appear to be coeval, while the third is approximately two times older~200 Myr vs.~80 Myr). All three clusters are massive (1-3 x 10^5 msun) and appear to be of roughly solar metallicity. Additionally, the three clusters appear to be relatively large (R_eff = 10-20 pc…
By studying young open clusters, the mechanisms important for star formation over several Myr can be examined. For example, accretion rate as a function of rotational velocity can be investigated. Similarly, sequential star formation triggered by massive stars with high mass-loss rates can be studied in detail. We identified and characterized probable members of NGC 6383, as well as determined cluster parameters. New Stromgren uvby CCD photometry, obtained by us, is presented. This new data, together with Johnson UBV and 2MASS data in the NIR, was used to investigate characteristics of pre- as…
We present new near-IR light curves for six Cepheids in the young blue LMC cluster NGC1866 as well as high precision radial velocity curves for ten Cepheids in NGC1866 and two in NGC2031. For the six Cepheids in NGC1866 with new J and K light curves we determine distances and absolute magnitudes by applying the near-IR surface brightness method. We find that the formal error estimates on the derived distances are underestimated by about a factor of two. We find excellent agreement between the absolute magnitudes for the low metallicity LMC Cepheids with the Period-Luminosity (P-L) relation det…
We analyze Keck Hires observations of rotation in F, G, and K dwarf members of the open cluster M34 (NGC 1039), which is 250 Myr old, and we compare them to the Pleiades, Hyades, and NGC 6475. The upper bound to rotation seen in M34 is about a factor of two lower than for the 100 Myr-old Pleiades, but most M34 stars are well below this upper bound, and it is the overall convergence in rotation rates that is most striking. A few K dwarfs in M34 are still rapid rotators, suggesting that they have undergone core-envelope decoupling, followed by replenishment of surface angular momentum from an in…
NGC 602 is a young stellar cluster located in a peripheral region of the Small Magellanic Cloud known as the wing. Far from the main body of the galaxy and abutting the Magellanic Bridge, the SMC's wing is characterized by low gas and stellar content. With deep optical imaging from the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), we have discovered an extensive pre-Main Sequence (PMS) population, with stellar masses in the range 0.6-3 Solar masses. These low mass PMS stars formed coevally with the central cluster about 4 Myr ago. Spitzer Space Telescope (Spitzer) …
Images obtained with the CFHTIR camera on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope are used to investigate the near-infrared photometric properties of the star-forming M81 group galaxy NGC 3077. The spectral-energy distribution (SED) of the near-infrared light within 10 arcsec of the nucleus is consistent with the 2um light being dominated by hot young (log(t_{yr}) < 6.8) stars reddened by A_V = 3 - 4, with A_V < 8 mag in some regions. A population like that near the center of NGC 205 likely contributes only a modest fraction of the light near 2um. A number of candidate star clusters are detected in…
We present the analysis of seven band (1.2 to 8 micron) ground and space-based imaging of the NGC 7129 young stellar cluster from FLAMINGOS on MMT, 2MASS, and the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) on the Spitzer Space Telescope. An analysis of the H-[4.5] vs. J-H colors reveals 84 objects with circumstellar disks. Of these, 42 are located within the cluster core, a 0.5 pc (100'') radius region of enhanced stellar surface density. From a luminosity and extinction limited sample of the stars within the cluster core boundary we have determined that 54% +/- 14% have circumstellar disks. Finally, we rep…
We have used R_C I_C CCD photometry from the Isaac Newton telescope and intermediate resolution spectroscopy from the Gemini North telescope to identify and characterise low-mass (0.15<M/M_sun<1.3) pre-main sequence stars in the young open cluster NGC 2169. Isochrone fitting to the high- and low-mass populations yields an intrinsic distance modulus of 10.13{+0.06}{-0.09} mag and a model-dependent age of 9+/-2 Myr. Compared with the nearby, kinematically defined groups of a similar age, NGC 2169 has a large low-mass population which potentially offers a more precise statistical investigation of…
We present the results of the first sensitive L band (3.4 micron) imaging study of the nearby young embedded cluster NGC 2024. Two separate surveys of the cluster were acquired in order to obtain a census of the circumstellar disk fraction in the cluster. From an analysis of the JHKL colors of all sources in our largest area, we find an infrared excess fraction of > 86%. The JHKL colors suggest that the infrared excesses arise in circumstellar disks, indicating that the majority of the sources which formed in the NGC 2024 cluster are currently surrounded by, and likely formed with circumstella…
N-body simulations have shown that the dynamical decay of the young (~1 Myr) Orion Nebula cluster could be responsible for the loss of at least half of its initial content of OB stars. This result suggests that other young stellar systems could also lose a significant fraction of their massive stars at the very beginning of their evolution. To confirm this expectation, we used the Mid-Infrared Galactic Plane Survey (completed by the Midcourse Space Experiment satellite) to search for bow shocks around a number of young ($\la$ several Myr) clusters and OB associations. We discovered dozens of b…
In a sample of six young open clusters we investigated 1753 objects using the narrow band, three filter Delta a photometric system resulting in the detection of eleven bona-fide magnetic chemically peculiar (CP) stars and five Be or metal-weak stars. The results for the distant cluster NGC 3105 is most important because of the still unknown influence of the global metallicity gradient of the Milky Way. These findings confirm that CP stars are present in open clusters of very young ages (log t > 6.90) at galactocentric distances up to 11.4 kpc. For all programme clusters the age, reddening, and…
We estimate the dynamical masses of several young (~10 Myr) massive star clusters in two interacting galaxies, NGC 4038/4039 ("The Antennae") and NGC 1487, under the assumption of virial equilibrium. These are compared with photometric mass estimates from K-band photometry and assuming a standard Kroupa IMF. The clusters were selected to have near-infrared colors dominated by red supergiants, and hence to be old enough to have survived the earliest phases of cluster evolution when the interstellar medium is rapidly swept out from the cluster, supported by the fact that there is no obvious Halp…
Galaxy interactions are known to trigger starbursts. The young star clusters formed in mergers may be young globular clusters. The ages of these young star clusters yield the timing of interaction-triggered star formation and provide an important way to reconstruct the history of merging galaxies. Here we present the first results from our investigation into age and metallicity of twelve young clusters in the merging galaxy pair NGC 4676, using spectra from the multi-object Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (LRIS) on Keck. For ten clusters, comparison of the Balmer emission lines with model …
