On the massive star content of the nearby dwarf irregular Wolf-Rayet galaxy IC 4662

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

10 pages, 4 figures, accepted for Astronomy & Astrophysics

Scientific paper

Aims: We investigate the massive stellar content of the nearby dwarf irregular Wolf-Rayet galaxy IC 4662, and consider its global star forming properties in the context of other metal-poor galaxies, the SMC, IC 10 and NGC 1569. Methods: Very Large Telescope/FORS2 imaging and spectroscopy plus archival Hubble Space Telescope/ACS imaging datasets permit us to spatially identify the location, number and probable subtypes of Wolf-Rayet stars within this galaxy. We also investigate suggestions that a significant fraction of the ionizing photons of the two giant HII regions A1 and A2 lie deeply embedded within these regions. Results: Wolf-Rayet stars are associated with a number of sources within IC 4662-A1 and A2, plus a third compact HII region to the north west of A1 (A1-NW).Several sources appear to be isolated, single (or binary) luminous nitrogen sequence WR stars, while extended sources are clusters whose masses exceed the Orion Nebula Cluster by, at most, a factor of two. IC 4662 lacks optically visible young massive, compact clusters that are common in other nearby dwarf irregular galaxies. A comparison between radio and Halpha-derived ionizing fluxes of A1 and A2 suggests that 30-50% of their total Lyman continuum fluxes lie deeply embedded within these regions. Conclusions: The star formation surface density of IC 4662 is insufficient for this galaxy to qualify as a starburst galaxy, based upon its photometric radius, R_25. If instead, we were to adopt the V-band scale length R_D from Hunter & Elmegreen, IC 4662 would comfortably qualify as a starburst galaxy, since its star formation intensity would exceed 0.1 M_sun/yr/kpc^2.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

On the massive star content of the nearby dwarf irregular Wolf-Rayet galaxy IC 4662 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 On the massive star content of the nearby dwarf irregular Wolf-Rayet galaxy IC 4662, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and On the massive star content of the nearby dwarf irregular Wolf-Rayet galaxy IC 4662 will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-228181

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.