Progressive star formation in the young galactic super star cluster NGC 3603

Giacomo Beccari; Loredana Spezzi; Guido De Marchi; Francesco Paresce; Erick Young; Morten Andersen; Nino Panagia; Bruce Balick; Howard Bond; Daniela Calzetti; C. Marcella Carollo; Michael J. Disney; Michael A. Dopita; Jay A. Frogel; Donald N B Hall; Jon A. Holtzman; Randy A. Kimble; Patrick J. McCarthy; Robert W. O'Connell; Abhijit Saha; Joseph I. Silk; John T. Trauger; Alistair R. Walker; Bradley C. Whitmore; Rogier Windhorst

doi:10.1088/0004-637X/720/2/1108

Progressive star formation in the young galactic super star cluster NGC 3603

Giacomo Beccari, Loredana Spezzi, Guido De Marchi, Francesco Paresce, Erick Young, Morten Andersen, Nino Panagia, Bruce Balick, Howard Bond, Daniela Calzetti, C. Marcella Carollo, Michael J. Disney, Michael A. Dopita, Jay A. Frogel, Donald N B Hall, Jon A. Holtzman, Randy A. Kimble, Patrick J. McCarthy, Robert W. O'Connell, Abhijit SahaJoseph I. Silk, John T. Trauger, Alistair R. Walker, Bradley C. Whitmore, Rogier Windhorst

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

60 Scopus citations

Abstract

Early Release Science observations of the cluster NGC 3603 with the WFC3 on the refurbished Hubble Space Telescope allow us to study its recent star formation history. Our analysis focuses on stars with Hαexcess emission, a robust indicator of their pre-main sequence (PMS) accreting status. The comparison with theoretical PMS isochrones shows that 2/3 of the objects with Hαexcess emission have ages from 1 to 10 Myr, with a median value of 3 Myr, while a surprising 1/3 of them are older than 10 Myr. The study of the spatial distribution of these PMS stars allows us to confirm their cluster membership and to statistically separate them from field stars. This result establishes unambiguously for the first time that star formation in and around the cluster has been ongoing for at least 10-20 Myr, at an apparently increasing rate.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1108-1117
Number of pages	10
Journal	Astrophysical Journal
Volume	720
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/720/2/1108
State	Published - Sep 10 2010

Keywords

Open clusters and associations: individual (NGC 3603)
Stars: pre-main sequence

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

Access to Document

10.1088/0004-637X/720/2/1108

Cite this

Beccari, G., Spezzi, L., De Marchi, G., Paresce, F., Young, E., Andersen, M., Panagia, N., Balick, B., Bond, H., Calzetti, D., Carollo, C. M., Disney, M. J., Dopita, M. A., Frogel, J. A., Hall, D. N. B., Holtzman, J. A., Kimble, R. A., McCarthy, P. J., O'Connell, R. W., ... Windhorst, R. (2010). Progressive star formation in the young galactic super star cluster NGC 3603. Astrophysical Journal, 720(2), 1108-1117. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/720/2/1108

Progressive star formation in the young galactic super star cluster NGC 3603. / Beccari, Giacomo; Spezzi, Loredana; De Marchi, Guido; Paresce, Francesco; Young, Erick; Andersen, Morten; Panagia, Nino; Balick, Bruce; Bond, Howard; Calzetti, Daniela; Carollo, C. Marcella; Disney, Michael J.; Dopita, Michael A.; Frogel, Jay A.; Hall, Donald N B; Holtzman, Jon A.; Kimble, Randy A.; McCarthy, Patrick J.; O'Connell, Robert W.; Saha, Abhijit; Silk, Joseph I.; Trauger, John T.; Walker, Alistair R.; Whitmore, Bradley C.; Windhorst, Rogier.

In: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 720, No. 2, 10.09.2010, p. 1108-1117.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Beccari, G, Spezzi, L, De Marchi, G, Paresce, F, Young, E, Andersen, M, Panagia, N, Balick, B, Bond, H, Calzetti, D, Carollo, CM, Disney, MJ, Dopita, MA, Frogel, JA, Hall, DNB, Holtzman, JA, Kimble, RA, McCarthy, PJ, O'Connell, RW, Saha, A, Silk, JI, Trauger, JT, Walker, AR, Whitmore, BC & Windhorst, R 2010, 'Progressive star formation in the young galactic super star cluster NGC 3603', Astrophysical Journal, vol. 720, no. 2, pp. 1108-1117. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/720/2/1108

Beccari, Giacomo ; Spezzi, Loredana ; De Marchi, Guido ; Paresce, Francesco ; Young, Erick ; Andersen, Morten ; Panagia, Nino ; Balick, Bruce ; Bond, Howard ; Calzetti, Daniela ; Carollo, C. Marcella ; Disney, Michael J. ; Dopita, Michael A. ; Frogel, Jay A. ; Hall, Donald N B ; Holtzman, Jon A. ; Kimble, Randy A. ; McCarthy, Patrick J. ; O'Connell, Robert W. ; Saha, Abhijit ; Silk, Joseph I. ; Trauger, John T. ; Walker, Alistair R. ; Whitmore, Bradley C. ; Windhorst, Rogier. / Progressive star formation in the young galactic super star cluster NGC 3603. In: Astrophysical Journal. 2010 ; Vol. 720, No. 2. pp. 1108-1117.

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abstract = "Early Release Science observations of the cluster NGC 3603 with the WFC3 on the refurbished Hubble Space Telescope allow us to study its recent star formation history. Our analysis focuses on stars with Hαexcess emission, a robust indicator of their pre-main sequence (PMS) accreting status. The comparison with theoretical PMS isochrones shows that 2/3 of the objects with Hαexcess emission have ages from 1 to 10 Myr, with a median value of 3 Myr, while a surprising 1/3 of them are older than 10 Myr. The study of the spatial distribution of these PMS stars allows us to confirm their cluster membership and to statistically separate them from field stars. This result establishes unambiguously for the first time that star formation in and around the cluster has been ongoing for at least 10-20 Myr, at an apparently increasing rate.",

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AU - O'Connell, Robert W.

AU - Saha, Abhijit

AU - Silk, Joseph I.

AU - Trauger, John T.

AU - Walker, Alistair R.

AU - Whitmore, Bradley C.

AU - Windhorst, Rogier

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Progressive star formation in the young galactic super star cluster NGC 3603

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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