Speaker
Katherine HOLLYHEAD
(Astrophysics Research Institute)
Description
The initial stages of star cluster formation (the first 10 Myr) are
still not entirely clear, though this age is highly important for
understanding their subsequent evolution and that of the galaxy itself.
We have studied a sample of young massive clusters (<10 Myr, >5000 solar
masses) in nearby spiral galaxy M83, using archival HST WFC3 data
available on the HST Legacy Archive. By looking at images of the
clusters using the Halpha filter, which traces ionised gas, we find that
these clusters have expelled all of the extra gas from initial star
formation by ~3-4 Myr. This very rapid removal of gas is seen across all
mass scales on the same timescales, as we find cluster 23 in ESO
338-IG04 at ~5x10^6 solar masses and 6 Myr shows the same result. We
also find that some clusters in M83 could potentially contain Wolf-Rayet
stars (though definite membership is difficult to determine) which could
contribute to the rapid removal of gas, though we hope to expand on this
with future MUSE data of M83.
Primary author
Katherine HOLLYHEAD
(Astrophysics Research Institute)
