We present observations of a massive star cluster near the nuclear region of the nearby starburst galaxy NGC 253. The peak of near-infrared emission, which is spatially separated by 4 from the kinematic center of the galaxy, is coincident with a supe
r star cluster whose properties we examine with low-resolution (R ~ 1,200) infrared CTIO spectroscopy and optical/near-infrared HST imaging. Extinction, measured from [FeII] lines, is estimated at Av = 17.7 +/- 2.6. The age of the cluster is estimated at 5.7 Myr, based on Bry equivalent width for an instantaneous burst using Starburst99 modeling. However, a complex star formation history is inferred from the presence of both recombination emission and photospheric CO absorption. The ionizing photon flux has a lower limit of 7.3 +/- 2.5 x 10^53 inverse seconds, corrected for extinction. Assuming a Kroupa IMF, we estimate a cluster mass of 1.4 +/- 0.4 x 10^7 solar masses. We observe a strong Wolf-Rayet signature at 2.06 microns and report a weak feature at 2.19 microns which may be due to a massive stellar population, consistent with the derived mass and age of this cluster.
We use high-resolution near-infrared spectroscopy from Keck Observatory to measure the stellar velocity dispersions of 19 super star clusters (SSCs) in the nuclear starburst of M82. The clusters have ages on the order of 10 Myr, which is many times l
onger than the crossing times implied by their velocity dispersions and radii. We therefore apply the Virial Theorem to derive the kinematic mass for 15 of the SSCs. The SSCs have masses of 2 x 10^5 to 4 x 10^6 solar masses, with a total population mass of 1.4 x 10^7 solar masses. Comparison of the loci of the young M82 SSCs and old Milky Way globular clusters in a plot of radius versus velocity dispersion suggests that the SSCs are a population of potential globular clusters. We present the mass function for the SSCs, and find a power law fit with an index of gamma = -1.91 +/- 0.06. This result is nearly identical to the mass function of young SSCs in the Antennae galaxies.
