Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009aas...21441801r&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #214, #418.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.687
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
We present a study of the individual super star clusters (SSCs) in the low-metallicity galaxy SBS 0335-052 using new near-infrared and archival optical Hubble Space Telescope observations. The physical properties of the SSCs are derived from fitting model spectral energy distributions (SEDs) to the optical photometry, as well as from the H_alpha and Pa_alpha nebular emission. Among the clusters, we find a significant age spread that is correlated with position in the galaxy, suggesting successive cluster formation occurred in SBS 0335-052 sparked by a large-scale disturbance traveling through the galaxy at a speed of 35 km/s. The SSCs exhibit near-IR ( 1.6-2.1 um) excesses with respect to model SEDs fit to the optical data. From the cluster SEDs and colors, we find that the primary origin of the near-IR excess observed in the youngest SSCs (ɛ Myr) is hot dust emission, while evolved red supergiants dominate the near-IR light in the older (>7 Myr) clusters. The clusters also exhibit I-band ( 0.8 um) excesses: possible origins include nebular emission (line and continuum), red supergiants, and a photoluminescent process known as Extended Red Emission. The ionizing luminosities of the two SSCs younger than 3 Myr are each 5x10^52 s^-1, which is equivalent to each cluster hosting 5000 O7.5 V stars. The inferred masses of these SSCs are 10^6 M_sun. We also find evidence for a porous and clumpy ISM surrounding the youngest, embedded SSCs. Finally, we propose a scenario that can account for the apparently discrepant extinction estimates found in the literature for the starburst region encompassing the youngest SSCs in SBS 0335-052.
Hunt Leslie K.
Johnson Kelsey E.
Reines Amy E.
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