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Integrated photometric and spectroscopic properties of massive stellar clusters in Wolf-Rayet galaxies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 May 2016

Brent A. Buckalew
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005, USA
Reginald J. Dufour
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005, USA
Héctor O. Castañeda
Affiliation:
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, C/ Vía Láctea s/n, E-38200 La Laguna, Tenerife, España

Abstract

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We report here the first results of an extensive optical/near-infrared imaging and spectroscopic study of massive stellar clusters in Wolf-Rayet (WR) galaxies using observations obtained from KPNO (USA), OAN (Mexico), the HST and the 2MASS data archive. We have collected spectra, B-imagery and 2MASS JHK imagery of approximately 60 prominent stellar clusters in 23 WR galaxies. One-third of the clusters have a WR stellar signature at He ii λ4686. In this poster, we present the comparison of the derived ages and masses of clusters with WR stars (WRCs) against clusters not containing WR stars (nWRCs). The results show that the mean age of the WRCs distribution is 5.2 ± 1.8 Myr and 6.4 ± 2 Myr for the nWRCs. The mean ages of the two cluster groups are not statistically different. The WRCs masses appear to be more evenly distributed than the nWRC masses and one typically finds that the WRC mass in a particular galaxy is larger than the nWRC mass.

Type
Part 4. Feedback from Massive Stars
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2003 

References

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