Super Star Clusters in Starburst Galaxies

AST 0205999 Graham，J R星暴星系中星星的形成主要由超星星团（SSC）控制，它们的大小和质量与球状星团相当，这表明SSC可能是年轻的球状星团。 在这一领域有许多悬而未决的问题：什么样的物理条件导致SSC的形成？这种星星形成的模式如何符合我们银河系星星形成的范式？恒星在SSC中形成的比例是多少？SSC和球状星团之间有什么联系？这项工作的核心是在最近的星暴合并中对SSC人口进行红外光谱和成像研究，使用双子座和凯克望远镜获得的观测时间。最年轻的SSC集中在两个核之间的尘埃重叠区域，那里有巨大的分子云复合物，中红外强度达到峰值。在这里进行的红外观测，其消光比以前的哈勃太空望远镜数据少一个数量级，对于减少与红化相关的系统误差和量化SSC在整个年龄范围内的特性至关重要。

AST 0205999Graham, J RStar formation in starburst galaxies is dominated by super star clusters (SSCs) whose sizes and masses are comparable to those of globular clusters, suggesting that SSCs may be young globular clusters. There are many outstanding questions in this field: What physical conditions lead to the formation of SSCs? How does this mode of star formation fit into our paradigm for Galactic star formation? What fraction of stars forms in SSCs? What is the connection between SSCs and globular clusters? The centerpiece of this work is an IR spectroscopic and imaging study of the SSC population in the nearest starburst merger, the Antennae Galaxies, using observing time which has been awarded on the Gemini and Keck telescopes. The youngest SSCs in the Antennae are concentrated in the dusty overlap region between the two nuclei where giant molecular cloud complexes reside and where the mid-IR intensity peaks. The infrared observations to be conducted here, which suffer an order of magnitude less extinction than previous Hubble Space Telescope data, are essential to reduce the systematic errors associated with reddening and to quantify the properties of SSCs over the full range of ages and extinctions.