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

63 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

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

@article{ce7118c30cea443f984dd66b84f42753,

title = "Progressive star formation in the young galactic super star cluster NGC 3603",

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.",

keywords = "Open clusters and associations: individual (NGC 3603), Stars: pre-main sequence",

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

year = "2010",

month = sep,

day = "10",

doi = "10.1088/0004-637X/720/2/1108",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "720",

pages = "1108--1117",

journal = "Astrophysical Journal",

issn = "0004-637X",

publisher = "IOP Publishing Ltd.",

number = "2",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Progressive star formation in the young galactic super star cluster NGC 3603

AU - Beccari, Giacomo

AU - Spezzi, Loredana

AU - De Marchi, Guido

AU - Paresce, Francesco

AU - Young, Erick

AU - Andersen, Morten

AU - Panagia, Nino

AU - Balick, Bruce

AU - Bond, Howard

AU - Calzetti, Daniela

AU - Carollo, C. Marcella

AU - Disney, Michael J.

AU - Dopita, Michael A.

AU - Frogel, Jay A.

AU - Hall, Donald N B

AU - Holtzman, Jon A.

AU - Kimble, Randy A.

AU - McCarthy, Patrick J.

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

PY - 2010/9/10

Y1 - 2010/9/10

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Open clusters and associations: individual (NGC 3603)

KW - Stars: pre-main sequence

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=78049513353&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=78049513353&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1088/0004-637X/720/2/1108

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

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:78049513353

VL - 720

SP - 1108

EP - 1117

JO - Astrophysical Journal

JF - Astrophysical Journal

SN - 0004-637X

IS - 2

ER -

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

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this