No Arabic abstract
We present the photometric catalogs for the star-forming cluster NGC 602 in the wing of the Small Magellanic Cloud covering a range of wavelengths from optical HST/ACS (F555W, F814W) and SMARTS/ANDICAM (V, I) to infrared (Spitzer/IRAC 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8 micron and MIPS 24 micron). Combining this with IRSF (InfraRed Survey Facility) near-infrared photometry (J, H, Ks), we compare the young main sequence (MS) and pre-main sequence (PMS) populations prominent in the optical with the current young stellar object (YSO) populations revealed by the infrared (IR). We analyze the MS and PMS population with isochrones in color-magnitude diagrams to derive ages and masses. The optical data reveal ~565 PMS candidates, low mass Stage III YSOs. We characterize ~40 YSOs by fitting their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) to a grid of models (Robitaille et al. 2007) to derive luminosities, masses and evolutionary phase (Stage I-III). The higher resolution HST images reveal that ~70% of the YSO candidates are either multiples or protoclusters. For YSOs and PMS sources found in common, we find a consistency in the masses derived. We use the YSO mass function to derive a present-day star-formation rate of ~0.2-1.0 Msun/yr/kpc^2, similar to the rate derived from the optical star formation history suggesting a constant star formation rate for this region. We demonstrate a progression of star formation from the optical star cluster center to the edge of the star forming dust cloud. We derive lifetimes of a few 10^5 years for the YSO Stages I and II.
We investigate the clustering of early-type stars younger than 300 Myr on galactic scales in M31. Based on the stellar photometric catalogs of the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury program that also provides stellar parameters derived from the individual energy distributions, our analysis is focused on the young stars in three star-forming regions, located at galactocentric distances of about 5, 10, and 15 kpc, corresponding to the inner spiral arms, the ring structure, and the outer arm, respectively. We apply the two-point correlation function to our selected sample to investigate the clustering behavior of these stars across different time- and length-scales. We find that young stellar structure survives across the whole extent of M31 longer than 300 Myr. Stellar distribution in all regions appears to be self-similar, with younger stars being systematically more strongly clustered than the older, which are more dispersed. The observed clustering is interpreted as being induced by turbulence, the driving source for which is probably gravitational instabilities driven by the spiral arms, which are stronger closer to the galactic centre.
(Abridged) Far ultraviolet to far infrared images of the nearby galaxy NGC5194, from Spitzer, GALEX, Hubble Space Telescope and ground--based data, are used to investigate local and global star formation, and the impact of dust extinction in HII-emitting knots. In the IR/UV-UV color plane, the NGC5194 HII knots show the same trend observed for normal star-forming galaxies, having a much larger dispersion than starburst galaxies. We identify the dispersion as due to the UV emission predominantly tracing the evolved, non-ionizing stellar population, up to ages 50-100 Myr. While in starbursts the UV light traces the current SFR, in NGC5194 it traces a combination of current and recent-past SFR. Unlike the UV emission, the monochromatic 24 micron luminosity is an accurate local SFR tracer for the HII knots in NGC5194; this suggests that the 24 micron emission carriers are mainly heated by the young, ionizing stars. However, preliminary results show that the ratio of the 24 micron emission to the SFR varies by a factor of a few from galaxy to galaxy. While also correlated with star formation, the 8 micron emission is not directly proportional to the number of ionizing photons. This confirms earlier suggestions that the carriers of the 8 micron emission are heated by more than one mechanism.
We have performed mid-IR photometry of the young open cluster NGC 2264 using the images obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope IRAC and MIPS instruments and present a normalized classification scheme of young stellar objects in various color-color diagrams to make full use of the information from multicolor photometry. These results are compared with the classification scheme based on the slope of the spectral energy distribution (SED). From the spatial distributions of Class I and II stars, we have identified two subclusterings of Class I objects in the CONE region of Sung et al. The disked stars in the other star forming region S MON are mostly Class II objects. These three regions show a distinct difference in the fractional distribution of SED slopes as well as the mean value of SED slopes. The fraction of stars with primordial disks is nearly flat between log m = 0.2 -- -0.5, and that of transition disks is very high for solar mass stars. In addition, we have derived a somewhat higher value of the primordial disk fraction for NGC 2264 members located below the main pre-main sequence locus (so-called BMS stars). This result supports the idea that BMS stars are young stars with nearly edge-on disks. We have also found that the fraction of primordial disks is very low near the most massive star S Mon and increases with distance from S Mon.
We have studied the young stellar populations in NGC 602, in the Small Magellanic Cloud, using a novel method that we have developed to combine Hubble Space Telescope photometry in the V, I, and Halpha bands. We have identified about 300 pre-main sequence (PMS) stars, all of which are still undergoing active mass accretion, and have determined their physical parameters (effective temperature, luminosity, age, mass and mass accretion rate). Our analysis shows that star formation has been present in this field over the last 60 Myr. In addition, we can recognise at least two clear, distinct, and prominent episodes in the recent past: one about 2 Myr ago, but still ongoing in regions of higher nebulosity, and one (or more) older than 30 Myr, encompassing both stars dispersed in the field and two smaller clusters located about 100 arcsec north of the centre of NGC 602. The relative locations of younger and older PMS stars do not imply a causal effect or triggering of one generation on the other. The strength of the two episodes appears to be comparable, but the episode occurring more than 30 Myr ago might have been even stronger than the current one. We have investigated the evolution of the mass accretion rate M_acc as a function of the stellar parameters finding that log M_acc ~ -0.6 log t + log m + c, where t is the age of the star, m its mass and c is a decreasing function of the metallicity.
We used high-resolution optical HST/WFC3 and multi-conjugate adaptive optics assisted GEMINI GeMS/GSAOI observations in the near-infrared to investigate the physical properties of the globular cluster NGC 6569 in the Galactic bulge. We have obtained the deepest purely NIR color-magnitude diagram published so far for this cluster using ground-based observations, reaching $K_{s}$ $approx$ 21.0 mag (two magnitudes below the main-sequence turn-off point). By combining the two datasets secured at two different epochs, we determined relative proper motions for a large sample of individual stars in the center of NGC 6569, allowing a robust selection of cluster member stars. Our proper motion analysis solidly demonstrates that, despite its relatively high metal content, NGC 6569 hosts some blue horizontal branch stars. A differential reddening map has been derived in the direction of the system, revealing a maximum color excess variation of about $delta E(B-V)$ $sim$ 0.12 mag in the available field of view. The absolute age of NGC 6569 has been determined for the first time. In agreement with the other few bulge globular clusters with available age estimates, NGC 6569 turns out to be old, with an age of about 12.8 Gyr, and a typical uncertainty of 0.8-1.0 Gyr.