Other
Scientific paper
Jul 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006hst..prop10856t&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #10856. Cycle 15
Other
Scientific paper
The critical unanswered question in calculations of galaxy formation and evolution is the degree of feedback from the formation of the first massive stars on subsequent evolution. Even the sign of the term is uncertain. Super Star Clusters give one very dramatic answer by forming several thousand O stars in a volume with a radius of only a few parsecs. How can that many massive stars form in such a small volume without immediate dissipation of all gas by the intense ionizing radiation from the stars? SBS0335-052E has done this, not once but at least 6 times in a region of approximately 500 parsecs in size. It has also managed to do this with the third lowest metallicity of any known galaxy. The record lowest metallicity is held by its companion SBS0335-052W. These observations are designed to test one answer to this enigma; that all of the ionizing photons are absorbed within a few hundred AU of the stars that emit them. This delays the negative feedback from photoionization and allows the formation of other stars in the immediate neighborhood who are oblivious to the massive stars nearby. This scenario predicts that both molecular and ionized gas exist within the radius of the super star clusters and that their emission should be spatially coincident. We propose to test this hypothesis with high spatial resolution NICMOS camera 2 images in the hydrogen Pa alpha and molecular hydrogen 1-0 S1 emission lines. Spatial coincidence of the emission regions will confirm that gas within the cluster is shielded from ionizing and dissociating photons and is capable of forming new stars within this tiny region in spite of the presence of thousands of massive stars. The current burst of star formation was probably triggered by interaction with the giant spiral galaxy NGC 1376. This proposal contains parallel observations of this galaxy with the ACS WFC. Due to the intense interest in SBS0335-052 we waive all proprietary rights. The observations will then immediately compliment observations by the Great Observatories, Spitzer and ground base observatories .
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