Other
Scientific paper
Dec 1997
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997hst..prop.7888g&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #7888
Other
Hst Proposal Id #7888 Galaxies
Scientific paper
We propose studying massive young and intermediate aged clusters in the spiral galaxy M33. We will use these clusters as a stellar laboratory to study the bright asymptotic giant branch {AGB} stars expected in their fields. Similar studies can not be done in our galaxy because massive young and intermediate aged clusters {and the luminous AGB stars they produce} are not found in the Milky Way. While no direct observations of AGB stars in M33 clusters have been reported, a survey of AGB stars in Magellanic Cloud {MC} clusters has produced results which conflict with theory, leaving many questions unanswered. Also, our WFPC2 observations of the reddest clusters in M33 have revealed the presence of extremely red horizontal branches {HBs} in 9 of 10 clusters surveyed, suggestive of intermediate ages. Confirmation of this by observing luminous AGB stars would be a stunning result since all other {albeit weaker} evidence points to cluster ages > 10 Gyr. NICMOS is superbly suited to these cluster studies because: {1} NIC2 has excellent resolution with sufficient field of view to observe entire clusters, {2} NIR photometry is the best wavelength range for measuring bolometric luminosities and temperatures and {3} the M33 giants can be observed efficiently in the NIR. These observations will also be used to test an important distance scale technique, will serve as a template for age estimates of general stellar populations in distant galaxies, and can be used to study cluster evolution and the age-metallicity relation.
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