Physics – Optics
Scientific paper
Feb 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007noao.prop...99b&link_type=abstract
NOAO Proposal ID #2007A-0099
Physics
Optics
Scientific paper
W43 is an obscured giant H II region in the inner Galaxy. At its core is a massive-star cluster (with approximately 50 O-type stars) that is similar in many ways to the super-star clusters formed during galaxy mergers, such as those in NGC 4038/9 (the Antennae). Knowledge of the mass function of stars formed during these intense starbursts is key to understanding the impact of mergers on galaxy evolution. Only the massive-star clusters in our own Galaxy are close enough to study individual stars and hence directly determine the stellar initial mass function. Until now, the mass functions in these clusters have been derived using an uncertain conversion between mass and K-band luminosity. We propose to use NIFS in combination with the ALTAIR facility adaptive optics system and laser guide star to perform a detailed investigation of the stellar content of the embedded cluster at the core of W43 through spatially resolved spectroscopy, testing for the first time the infrared mass-luminosity relation for inner-Galaxy clusters.
Barbosa Cassio
Blum Robert
Conti Peter
Crowther P. P.
Damineli Augusto
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