No Arabic abstract
We present an approach for analysing the morphology and physical properties of Hi features near giant OB asso- ciations in M33, in the context of a model whereby the Hi excess arises from photodissociation of the molecular gas in remnants of the parent Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs). Examples are presented here in the environs of NGC604 and CPSDPZ204, two prominent Hii regions in M33. These are the first results of a detailed analysis of the environs of a large number of OB associations in that galaxy. We present evidence for diffusion of the far-UV radiation from the OB association through a clumpy remnant GMC, and show further that enhanced CO(1-0) emission appears preferentially associated with GMCs of higher volume density.
HST ACS/HRC images in UV (F250W), V (F555W), and I (F814W) resolve three isolated OB associations that lie up to 30 kpc from the stellar disk of the S0 galaxy NGC 1533. Previous narrow-band Halpha imaging and optical spectroscopy showed these objects as unresolved intergalactic HII regions having Halpha luminosities consistent with single early-type O stars. These young stars lie in stripped HI gas with column densities ranging from 1.5 - 2.5 * 10^20 cm^-2 and velocity dispersions near 30 km s^-1. Using the HST broadband colors and magnitudes along with previously-determined Halpha luminosities, we place limits on the masses and ages of each association, considering the importance of stochastic effects for faint (M_V >-8) stellar populations. The upper limits to their stellar masses range from 600 M_sun to 7000 M_sun, and ages range from 2 - 6 Myrs. This analysis includes an updated calculation of the conversion factor between the ionizing luminosity and the total number of main sequence O stars contained within an HII region. The photometric properties and sizes of the isolated associations and other objects in the HRC fields are consistent with those of Galactic stellar associations, open clusters and/or single O and B stars. We interpret the age-size sequence of associations and clustered field objects as an indication that these isolated associations are most likely rapidly dispersing. Furthermore, we consider the possibility that these isolated associations represent the first generation of stars in the HI ring surrounding NGC 1533. This work suggests star formation in the unique environment of a galaxys outermost gaseous regions proceeds similarly to that within the Galactic disk and that star formation in tidal debris may be responsible for building up a younger halo component.
We explore the quantified morphology of atomic hydrogen (HI) disks in the Virgo cluster. These galaxies display a wealth of phenomena in their Hi morphology, e.g., tails, truncation and warps. These morphological disturbances are related to the ram-pressure stripping and tidal interaction that galaxies undergo in this dense cluster environment. To quantify the morphological transformation of the HI disks, we compute the morphological parameters of CAS, Gini, and M20 and our own GM for 51 galaxies in 48 HI column density maps from the VIVA project. Some morphological phenomena can be identified in this space of relatively low resolution HI data. Truncation of the HI disk can be cleanly identified via the Concentration parameter (C<1) and Concentration can also be used to identify HI deficient disks (1<C<5). Tidal interaction is typically identified using combinations of these morphological parameters, applied to (optical) images of galaxies. We find that some selection criteria (Gini-M20, Asymmetry, and a modified Concentration-M20) are still applicable for the coarse (~15 FWHM) VIVA HI data. The phenomena of tidal tails can be reasonably well identified using the Gini-M20 criterion (60% of galaxies with tails identified but with as many contaminants). Ram-pressure does move HI disks into and out of most of our interaction criteria: the ram-pressure sequence identified by Vollmer et al. (2009) tracks into and out of some of these criteria (Asymmetry based and the Gini-M20 selections, but not the Concentration-M20 or the GM based ones). Therefore, future searches for interaction using HI morphologies should take ram-pressure into account as a mechanism to disturb HI disks enough to make them appear as gravitationally interacting. One mechanism would be to remove all the HI deficient (C<5) disks from the sample, as these have undergone more than one HI removal mechanism.
We developed a new population synthesis code for groups of massive stars, where we model the emission of different forms of energy and matter from the stars of the association. In particular, the ejection of the two radioactive isotopes 26Al and 60Fe is followed, as well as the emission of hydrogen ionizing photons, and the kinetic energy of the stellar winds and supernova explosions. We investigate various alternative astrophysical inputs and the resulting output sensitivities, especially effects due to the inclusion of rotation in stellar models. As the aim of the code is the application to relatively small populations of massive stars, special care is taken to address their statistical properties. Our code incorporates both analytical statistical methods applicable to small populations, as well as extensive Monte Carlo simulations. We find that the inclusion of rotation in the stellar models has a large impact on the interactions between OB associations and their surrounding interstellar medium. The emission of 26Al in the stellar winds is strongly enhanced, compared to non-rotating models with the same mass-loss prescription. This compensates the recent reductions in the estimates of mass-loss rates of massive stars due to the effects of clumping. Despite the lower mass-loss rates, the power of the winds is actually enhanced for rotating stellar models. The supernova power (kinetic energy of their ejecta) is decreased due to longer lifetimes of rotating stars, and therefore the wind power dominates over supernova power for the first 6 Myr after a burst of star-formation. For populations typical of nearby star-forming regions, the statistical uncertainties are large and clearly non-Gaussian.
For understanding the process of star formation it is essential to know how many stars are formed as singles or in multiple systems, as a function of environment and binary parameters. This requires a characterization of the primordial binary population, which we define as the population of binaries that is present just after star formation has ceased, but before dynamical and stellar evolution have significantly altered its characteristics. In this article we present the first results of our adaptive optics survey of 200 (mainly) A-type stars in the nearby OB association Sco OB2. We report the discovery of 47 new candidate companions of Sco OB2 members. The next step will be to combine these observations with detailed simulations of young star clusters, in order to find the primordial binary population.
We discuss how contemporary multiwavelength observations of young OB-dominated clusters address long-standing astrophysical questions: Do clusters form rapidly or slowly with an age spread? When do clusters expand and disperse to constitute the field star population? Do rich clusters form by amalgamation of smaller subclusters? What is the pattern and duration of cluster formation in massive star forming regions (MSFRs)? Past observational difficulties in obtaining good stellar censuses of MSFRs have been alleviated in recent studies that combine X-ray and infrared surveys to obtain rich, though still incomplete, censuses of young stars in MSFRs. We describe here one of these efforts, the MYStIX project, that produced a catalog of 31,784 probable members of 20 MSFRs. We find that age spread within clusters are real in the sense that the stars in the core formed after the cluster halo. Cluster expansion is seen in the ensemble of (sub)clusters, and older dispersing populations are found across MSFRs. Direct evidence for subcluster merging is still unconvincing. Long-lived, asynchronous star formation is pervasive across MSFRs.