Stellar Content of the Galactic Center

Details Stellar Content of the Galactic Center Stellar Content of the Galactic Center

Feb 1999

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1999noao.prop..177r&link_type=abstract

NOAO Proposal ID #1999A-0177

Computer Science

Scientific paper

Photometric studies reveal an excess of luminous stars in the dereddened K-band luminosity function of the Galactic Center relative to the dereddened K-band luminosity function of Baade's window in the bulge. These stars are younger than the 10 Gyr age of Baade's window and are the key to understanding the star formation history of the Galactic Center. We propose to study the stellar population of these luminous stars by using K-band and H-band low-resolution spectra observed in cross-dispersed mode. The presence or absence of the CO absorption at 2.3 (micron) allows us to differentiate between cool stars and hot stars. The strength of CO and H_2O absorption together allows us to differentiate between red supergiants and AGB stars. The dereddened K-band luminosities plus the temperature of the stars measured from the strength of infrared absorption features can be compared to evolutionary tracks to determine the mass and age of each luminous star. In this way we will be able to trace different epochs of star formation in the Galactic Center.

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