Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007aas...211.5837j&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #211, #58.37; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.840
Other
Scientific paper
What types of stars dominate the luminosity of the newly discovered Galactic star cluster Mercer 23 (Mercer et al. 2005) found in GLIMPSE data, and what can this reveal about its past and future? We started a program to obtain NIR spectroscopy of the brightest members of the new Mercer et al. clusters in the Northern GLIMPSE survey segment and to augment this with deep, higher resolution JHK imaging, both using the Mimir NIR instrument on the Perkins telescope outside Flagstaff, AZ. NIR spectra of the brightest star (Star 1) in Mercer 23 showed the strong emission lines of a Wolf-Rayet star, while brightness ordered Stars 2 through 7 did not. Follow up optical spectroscopy using the PRISM instrument, also on the Perkins Telescope, of Stars 1 through 3 as well as a suite of known WR stars showed that Star 1 is indeed a Wolf-Rayet star of type WN8. Star 2 appears to be a cooler supergiant, potentially a variable. To test for variability of Star 2, or any other of the bright stars in the cluster, we have executed a short photometric survey, conducted nightly over two weeks. Additionally, deep JHK imaging using the F/17 high-angular resolution imaging mode of the Mimir instrument was used on a night of subarcsecond seeing to reveal cluster members too faint for 2MASS to see or isolate. From the variability data and the JHK color-color photometry, we expect to determine a distance to this highly optically extincted cluster, classify its stellar content, and estimate the mass and age of the cluster. Already, the presence of at least one WR star and the brightnesses of Stars 2 through 7 indicates a large number of massive stars dominate the luminosity budget of this newly found cluster.
This research partially supported by NSF grant AST-0607500.
Clemens Dan P.
Jameson Katherine
Pavel Michael
Pinnick April
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