The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2025)
Empirical SED Templates for Star Clusters Observed with HST and JWST: No Strong PAH or IR Dust Emission after 5 Myr
- Bradley C. Whitmore,
- Rupali Chandar,
- Janice C. Lee,
- Kiana F. Henny,
- M. Jimena Rodríguez,
- Dalya Baron,
- F. Bigiel,
- Médéric Boquien,
- Mélanie Chevance,
- Ryan Chown,
- Daniel A. Dale,
- Matthew Floyd,
- Kathryn Grasha,
- Simon C. O. Glover,
- Oleg Gnedin,
- Hamid Hassani,
- Remy Indebetouw,
- Anand Utsav Kapoor,
- Kirsten L. Larson,
- Adam K. Leroy,
- Daniel Maschmann,
- Fabian Scheuermann,
- Jessica Sutter,
- Eva Schinnerer,
- Sumit K. Sarbadhicary,
- David A. Thilker,
- Thomas G. Williams,
- Aida Wofford
Affiliations
- Bradley C. Whitmore
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA ; whitmore@stsci.edu
- Rupali Chandar
- ORCiD
- Ritter Astrophysical Research Center, University of Toledo , Toledo, OH 43606, USA
- Janice C. Lee
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA ; whitmore@stsci.edu; Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N Cherry Ave, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Kiana F. Henny
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wyoming , Laramie, WY 82071, USA
- M. Jimena Rodríguez
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA ; whitmore@stsci.edu; Instituto de Astrofisica de La Plata , CONICET-UNLP, Paseo del Bosque S/N, B1900FWA La Plata, Argentina
- Dalya Baron
- ORCiD
- The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science , 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101, USA
- F. Bigiel
- ORCiD
- Argelander-Institut für Astronomie, Universität Bonn , Auf dem Hügel 71, 53121, Bonn, Germany
- Médéric Boquien
- ORCiD
- Université Côte d’Azur , Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, 06000, Nice, France
- Mélanie Chevance
- ORCiD
- Institut für Theoretische Astrophysik, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg , Albert-Ueberle-Strasse 2, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; Cosmic Origins Of Life (COOL) Research DAO, coolresearch.io, Germany
- Ryan Chown
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University , 140 West 18th Ave., Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- Daniel A. Dale
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wyoming , Laramie, WY 82071, USA
- Matthew Floyd
- Ritter Astrophysical Research Center, University of Toledo , Toledo, OH 43606, USA
- Kathryn Grasha
- ORCiD
- ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , Australia; Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University , Canberra, ACT 2611, Australia
- Simon C. O. Glover
- ORCiD
- Institut für Theoretische Astrophysik, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg , Albert-Ueberle-Strasse 2, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Oleg Gnedin
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Hamid Hassani
- ORCiD
- Dept. of Physics, University of Alberta , 4-183 CCIS, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E1, Canada
- Remy Indebetouw
- ORCiD
- University of Virginia , Charlottesville, VA, USA
- Anand Utsav Kapoor
- ORCiD
- Sterrenkundig Observatorium, Universiteit Gent , Krijgslaan 281 S9, B-9000 Gent, Belgium
- Kirsten L. Larson
- ORCiD
- AURA for the European Space Agency (ESA) , Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Adam K. Leroy
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University , 140 West 18th Ave., Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- Daniel Maschmann
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N Cherry Ave, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA; Sorbonne Université, LERMA, Observatoire de Paris, PSL University , CNRS, F-75014, Paris, France
- Fabian Scheuermann
- ORCiD
- Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg , Mönchhofstraße 12-14, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Jessica Sutter
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics & Space Sciences, Department of Physics, University of California San Diego , 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Whitman College , 345 Boyer Avenue, Walla Walla, WA 99362, USA
- Eva Schinnerer
- ORCiD
- Max Planck Institut für Astronomie , Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
- Sumit K. Sarbadhicary
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University , 140 West 18th Ave., Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Physics, The Ohio State University , Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Center for Cosmology & Astro-Particle Physics, The Ohio State University , Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- David A. Thilker
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Thomas G. Williams
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Oxford , Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH, UK
- Aida Wofford
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics & Space Sciences, Department of Physics, University of California San Diego , 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México , Unidad Académica en Ensenada, Km 103 Carr. Tijuana-Ensenada, Ensenada, B.C., C.P. 22860, México
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adb3a2
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 982,
no. 1
p. 50
Abstract
JWST observations, when combined with Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data, promise to improve age estimates of star clusters in nearby spiral galaxies. However, feedback from young cluster stars pushes out the natal gas and dust, making cluster formation and evolution a challenge to model. Here, we use JWST+ HST observations of the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 628 to produce spectral energy distribution (SED) templates of compact star clusters spanning 275 nm through 21 μ m. These preliminary SEDs capture the cluster stars and associated gas and dust within radii of ≈0 $\mathop{.}\limits^\unicode{x02033}$ 12–0 $\mathop{.}\limits^\unicode{x02033}$ 67 (corresponding to ≈6–33 pc at the distance of NGC 628). One important finding is that the SEDs of 1, 2, 3, and 4 Myr clusters can be differentiated in the infrared. Another is that, in 80%–90% of the cases we study, the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and H _α emission track one another, with the dust responsible for the 3.3 μ m PAH emission largely removed by 4 Myr, consistent with pre-supernova stellar feedback acting quickly on the surrounding gas and dust. Nearly embedded cluster candidates have infrared SEDs that are quite similar to optically visible 1–3 Myr clusters. In nearly all cases, we find there is a young star cluster within a few tenths of an arcsec (10–30 pc) of the nearly embedded cluster, suggesting the formation of the cluster was triggered by its presence. The resulting age estimates from the empirical templates are compatible both with dynamical estimates based on CO superbubble expansion velocities, as well as the TODDLERS models, which track spherical evolution of homogeneous gas clouds around young stellar clusters.
Keywords
- Young star clusters
- Spiral galaxies
- Spectral energy distribution
- HST photometry
- James Webb Space Telescope
- H II regions
