Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jan 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21725827d&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #217, #258.27; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Using observations obtained with the WFC3 camera on board the Hubble Space Telescope, we have studied the star formation properties of the central regions of 30 Dor, in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The observations clearly reveal the presence of considerable differential extinction across the field. We characterise and quantify this effect using young massive main sequence stars to derive a statistical reddening correction for each object in the field. We then search for pre-main sequence (PMS) stars by looking for objects with a strong (>5 sigma) Halpha excess emission and find about 1200 of them over the entire field. Comparison of their location in the Hertzprung--Russell diagram with theoretical PMS evolutionary tracks for the appropriate metallicity reveals that about one third of these objects have an age of < 3 Myr, compatible with that of the massive stars in the central ionising cluster R136, whereas the rest have ages up to 30 Myr, with a median of 10 Myr. This indicates that star formation has proceeded over an extended period of time, although we cannot discriminate between an extended episode and a series of short and frequent bursts that are not resolved in time. While the younger PMS population preferentially occupies the central regions of the cluster, older PMS objects are more uniformly distributed across the field and are remarkably few at the very centre of the cluster. We attribute this latter effect to photoevaporation of the older circumstellar discs caused by the massive ionising members of R136.
This paper is based on Early Release Science observations made by the WFC3 Scientific Oversight Committee. We are grateful to the Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute for awarding Director's Discretionary time for this program.
Andersen Morten
Beccari Giacomo
de Marchi Guido
Panagia Nino
Paresce Francesco
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