Super Star Clusters in Starburst Galaxies

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

AST 0205999 Graham, J R Star 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.