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Register a new userKinematic Masses of Super Star Clusters in M82 from High-Resolution Near-Infrared Spectroscopy
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Using high-resolution (R~22,000) near-infrared (1.51 -- 1.75 microns) spectra from Keck Observatory, we measure the kinematic masses of two super star clusters in M82. Cross-correlation of the spectra with template spectra of cool evolved stars gives stellar velocity dispersions of sigma_r=15.9 +/- 0.8 km/s for MGG-9 and sigma_r=11.4 +/- 0.8 km/s for MGG-11. The cluster spectra are dominated by the light of red supergiants, and correlate most closely with template supergiants of spectral types M0 and M4.5. We fit King models to the observed profiles of the clusters in archival HST/NICMOS images to measure the half-light radii. Applying the virial theorem, we determine masses of 1.5 +/- 0.3 x 10^6 M_sun for MGG-9 and 3.5 +/- 0.7 x 10^5 M_sun for MGG-11. Population synthesis modelling suggests that MGG-9 is consistent with a standard initial mass function, whereas MGG-11 appears to be deficient in low-mass stars relative to a standard IMF. There is, however, evidence of mass segregation in the clusters, in which case the virial mass estimates would represent lower limits.
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We present optical spectroscopy obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) of five young massive star clusters in the starburst galaxy M82. A detailed analysis is performed for one cluster `M82-A1 and its immediate environment in the starburst core. From HST archive images, we find that it is elliptical with an effective radius of 3.0+/-0.5 pc and is surrounded by a compact (r=4.5+/-0.5 pc) H II region. We determine the age and reddening of M82-A1 using synthetic spectra from population synthesis models by fitting both the continuum energy distribution and the depth of the Balmer jump. We find an age of 6.4+/-0.5 Myr and a photometric mass estimate of M=7-13 x 10^5 solar masses. We associate its formation with the most recent starburst event 4-6 Myr ago. We find that the oxygen abundance of the H II region surrounding M82-A1 is solar or slightly higher. The H II region has a high pressure P/k = 1-2 x 10^7 cm^-3 K. The diffuse gas in region A has a slightly lower pressure, which together with the broad H alpha emission line width, suggests that both the thermal and turbulent pressures in the M82 starburst core are unusually high. We discuss how this environment has affected the evolution of the cluster wind for M82-A1. We find that the high pressure may have caused the pressure-driven bubble to stall. We also obtain spectroscopic ages for clusters B1-2 and B2-1 in the `fossil starburst region and for the intermediate age clusters F and L. These are consistent with earlier studies and demonstrate that star formation activity, sufficiently intense to produce super star clusters, has been going on in M82 during the past Gyr, perhaps in discrete and localized episodes.
We study the near-infrared properties of the super star cluster NGC1750-1 in order to constrain its spatial extent, its stellar population and its age. We use adaptive optics assisted integral field spectroscopy with SINFONI on the VLT. We estimate the spatial extent of the cluster and extract its K-band spectrum from which we constrain the age of the dominant stellar population. Our observations have an angular resolution of about 0.11, providing an upper limit on the cluster radius of 2.85+/-0.50 pc depending on the assumed distance. The K-band spectrum is dominated by strong CO absorption bandheads typical of red supergiants. Its spectral type is equivalent to a K4-5I star. Using evolutionary tracks from the Geneva and Utrecht groups, we determine an age of 12+/-6 Myr. The large uncertainty is rooted in the large difference between the Geneva and Utrecht tracks in the red supergiants regime. The absence of ionized gas lines in the K-band spectrum is consistent with the absence of O and/or Wolf-Rayet stars in the cluster, as expected for the estimated age.
We present results from a near infrared survey of the He I line (10830 Angstrom) in cool dwarf stars taken with the PHOENIX spectrograph at the 4-m Mayall telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Spectral synthesis of this region reproduces some but not all atomic and molecular features. The equivalent width of the He line appears directly correlated with the soft X-ray stellar surface flux except among the coolest M dwarf stars, where the helium is surprisingly weak.
Like other starburst galaxies, M82 hosts compact, massive young star clusters that are interesting both in their own right and as benchmarks for population synthesis models. Can spectral synthesis models at resolutions around 1000 adequately reproduce the near-IR spectral features and the energy distribution of these clusters between 0.8 and 2.4 microns? How do the derived cluster properties compare with previous results from optical studies? We analyse the spectra of 5 massive clusters in M82, using data acquired with the spectrograph SpeX on the InfraRed Telescope Facility (NASA/IRTF) and a new population synthesis tool with a highly improved near-IR extension, based on a recent collection of empirical and theoretical spectra of red supergiant stars. We obtain excellent fits across the near-IR with models at quasi-solar metallicity and a solar neighbourhood extinction law. Spectroscopy breaks a strong degeneracy between age and extinction in the near-IR colours in the red supergiant-dominated phase of evolution. The estimated near-IR ages cluster between 9 and 30 Myr, i.e. the ages at which the molecular bands due to luminous red supergiants are strongest in the current models. They do not always agree with optical spectroscopic ages. Adding optical data sometimes leads to the rejection of the solar neighbourhood extinction law. This is not surprising considering small-scale structure around the clusters, but it has no significant effect on the near-IR based spectroscopic ages. [abridged]
Combining high-resolution spectropolarimetric and imaging data is key to understanding the decay process of sunspots as it allows us scrutinizing the velocity and magnetic fields of sunspots and their surroundings. Active region NOAA 12597 was observed on 24/09/2016 with the 1.5-m GREGOR solar telescope using high-spatial resolution imaging as well as imaging spectroscopy and near-infrared (NIR) spectropolarimetry. Horizontal proper motions were estimated with LCT, whereas LOS velocities were computed with spectral line fitting methods. The magnetic field properties were inferred with the SIR code for the Si I and Ca I NIR lines. At the time of the GREGOR observations, the leading sunspot had two light-bridges indicating the onset of its decay. One of the light-bridges disappeared, and an elongated, dark umbral core at its edge appeared in a decaying penumbral sector facing the newly emerging flux. The flow and magnetic field properties of this penumbral sector exhibited weak Evershed flow, moat flow, and horizontal magnetic field. The penumbral gap adjacent to the elongated umbral core and the penumbra in that penumbral sector displayed LOS velocities similar to granulation. The separating polarities of a new flux system interacted with the leading and central part of the already established active region. As a consequence, the leading spot rotated 55-degree in clockwise direction over 12 hours. In the high-resolution observations of a decaying sunspot, the penumbral filaments facing flux emergence site contained a darkened area resembling an umbral core filled with umbral dots. This umbral core had velocity and magnetic field properties similar to the sunspot umbra. This implies that the horizontal magnetic fields in the decaying penumbra became vertical as observed in flare-induced rapid penumbral decay, but on a very different time-scale.
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