Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Galaxy Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2010-02-12
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Galaxy Astrophysics
10 pages, 6 figures, Proceedings of the Galactic Center Workshop 2009, Shanghai
Scientific paper
We present preliminary results of our \hst Pa$\alpha$ survey of the Galactic Center (\gc), which maps the central 0.65$\times$0.25 degrees around Sgr A*. This survey provides us with a more complete inventory of massive stars within the \gc, compared to previous observations. We find 157 Pa$\alpha$ emitting sources, which are evolved massive stars. Half of them are located outside of three young massive star clusters near Sgr A*. The loosely spatial distribution of these field sources suggests that they are within less massive star clusters/groups, compared to the three massive ones. Our Pa$\alpha$ mosaic not only resolves previously well-known large-scale filaments into fine structures, but also reveals many new extended objects, such as bow shocks and H II regions. In particular, we find two regions with large-scale Pa$\alpha$ diffuse emission and tens of Pa$\alpha$ emitting sources in the negative Galactic longitude suggesting recent star formation activities, which were not known previously. Furthermore, in our survey, we detect $\sim$0.6 million stars, most of which are red giants or AGB stars. Comparisons of the magnitude distribution in 1.90 $\mu$m and those from the stellar evolutionary tracks with different star formation histories suggest an episode of star formation process about 350 Myr ago in the \gc .
Cotera Angela
Dong Hui
Lang Christian
Mauerhan Jon
Mills Elisabeth A.
No associations
LandOfFree
HST Palpha Survey of the Galactic Center -- Searching the missing young stellar populations within the Galactic Center 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 HST Palpha Survey of the Galactic Center -- Searching the missing young stellar populations within the Galactic Center, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and HST Palpha Survey of the Galactic Center -- Searching the missing young stellar populations within the Galactic Center will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-420672