Comparing ALMA, VLT, and HST data for Massive, Young Clusters in Grand-Design Spirals

A population of young, massive stellar cluster complexes with near-infrared (NIR) colors indicating high extinction (i.e. Av ~ 7m) was identified on HAWK-I/VLT images of several nearby, grand-design spiral galaxies. Models suggest that they are very young cluster complexes still embedded in a dust/g...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 2015-08, Vol.12 (S316), p.141-142
Main Authors: Grosbøl, Preben, Dottori, Horacio
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astrophysics
Contributed Papers
Star & galaxy formation
Stars & galaxies
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Summary:A population of young, massive stellar cluster complexes with near-infrared (NIR) colors indicating high extinction (i.e. Av ~ 7m) was identified on HAWK-I/VLT images of several nearby, grand-design spiral galaxies. Models suggest that they are very young cluster complexes still embedded in a dust/gas envelope which will be expelled after 5-7 Myr. This type of very young, embedded clusters are not seen in optical studies using HST data. A detailed comparison of HST and HAWK-I images was done to better understand the discrepancy between the optical and NIR detection of stellar clusters in nearby galaxies. More than 70% of the NIR clusters are located close to dust lanes which would make an optical detection difficult. A comparison of the ALMA CO(1-0)-map of NGC 4321 and the young, massive clusters shows that 60% of them have CO emission within 2“ indicating a correlation between giant molecular clouds and formation of massive clusters.
ISSN:1743-9213
1743-9221
DOI:10.1017/S1743921316007080