Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010aas...21642101h&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #216, #421.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.832
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
We determine the physical parameters and investigate the high-mass stellar content of the infrared star cluster Mercer 23, situated near the Galactic plane (l=53.772, b=+0.164). Our analysis is based on new Baade/PANIC JHK imaging of Mercer 23 and ISAAC/VLT moderate resolution (R 4000) spectroscopy of the brightest cluster members in the H- and K-bands. The cluster age is determined from isochrone main-sequence (MS) and pre-MS fitting. We derive stellar parameters for eight of the stellar members, using a full non-LTE modeling of the obtained spectra. Mercer 23 is a very young cluster, with age of t=2-4 Myr. The cluster suffers reddening of E(J-Ks)=1.35, Av = 7.2 mag. The derived distance is d=6.5 +/- 0.2 kpc. Our spectral modeling allows us to conclude that the three most luminous member are evolved, highly massive stars: a WR star, and two mid-O supergiant stars, based on their derived luminosity. Mercer 23, is not a super-massive cluster, such as those recently recognized to exist in the Milky Way. However, its mass estimate of 4-6 x 103 Msun puts it in the unique class of young, very massive Galactic clusters hosting WR stars.
Borissova Jordanka
Georgiev Lachezar
Hanson Margaret Murray
Hillier Desmond John
Ivanov Valentin Dimitrov
No associations
LandOfFree
A Near-infrared Study of the Obscured, Young, Massive Star Cluster, Mercer 23 does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with A Near-infrared Study of the Obscured, Young, Massive Star Cluster, Mercer 23, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and A Near-infrared Study of the Obscured, Young, Massive Star Cluster, Mercer 23 will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1891500