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We use UBVI,Ha images of the Whirlpool galaxy, M51, taken with the ACS and WFPC2 cameras on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to select star clusters, and to estimate their masses and ages by comparing their observed colors with predictions from population synthesis models. We construct the mass function of intermediate age (1-4x10^8 yr) clusters, and find that it is well described by a power law, psi(M) propto M^beta, with beta=-2.1 +/- 0.2, for clusters more massive than approximately 6x10^3 Msun. This extends the mass function of intermediate age clusters in M51 to masses lower by nearly a factor of five over previous determinations. The mass function does not show evidence for curvature at either the high or low mass end. This shape indicates that there is no evidence for the earlier disruption of lower mass clusters compared with their higher mass counterparts (i.e., no mass-dependent disruption) over the observed range of masses and ages, or for a physical upper mass limit Mc with which clusters in M51 can form. These conclusions differ from previous suggestions based on poorer-quality HST observations. We discuss their implications for the formation and disruption of the clusters. Ages of clusters in two feathers, stellar features extending from the outer portion of a spiral arm, show that the feather with a larger pitch angle formed earlier, and over a longer period, than the other.
The complexity of physico-chemical models of star formation is increasing, with models that take into account new processes and more realistic setups. These models allow astrochemists to compute the evolution of chemical species throughout star forma
We present a study of compact star clusters in the nearby pair of interacting galaxies NGC 5194/95 (M51), based on multifilter Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 archival images. We have detected ~400 isolated clusters. Our requirement that clusters be det
It is widely accepted that the distribution function of the masses of young star clusters is universal and can be purely interpreted as a probability density distribution function with a constant upper mass limit. As a result of this picture the mass
Several dynamical scenarios have been proposed that can lead to prompt mass segregation on the crossing time scale of a young cluster. They generally rely on cool and/or clumpy initial conditions, and are most relevant to small systems. As a counterp
To distinguish between the different theories proposed to explain massive star formation, it is crucial to establish the distribution, the extinction, and the density of low-mass stars in massive star-forming regions. We analyzed deep X-ray observati