Hidden Gems on a Ring: Infant Massive Clusters and Their Formation Timeline Unveiled by ALMA, HST, and JWST in NGC 3351
arxiv(2024)
摘要
We study young massive clusters (YMCs) in their embedded "infant" phase with
∼0.1" ALMA, HST, and JWST observations targeting the central starburst
ring in NGC 3351, a nearby Milky Way analog galaxy. Our new ALMA data reveal 18
bright and compact (sub-)millimeter continuum sources, of which 11 have
apparent counterparts in JWST images and only 6 have counterparts in HST
images. Based on the ALMA continuum and molecular line data, as well as
ancillary measurements for the HST and JWST counterparts, we identify 14
sources as infant star clusters with high stellar and/or gas masses
(∼10^5 M_⊙), small radii (≲ 5 pc),
large escape velocities (6-10 km/s), and short free-fall times
(0.5-1 Myr). Their multiwavelength properties motivate us to
divide them into four categories, likely corresponding to four evolutionary
stages from starless clumps to exposed HII region-cluster complexes. Leveraging
age estimates for HST-identified clusters in the same region, we infer an
evolutionary timeline going from 1-2 Myr before cluster formation
as starless clumps, to 4-6 Myr after as exposed HII
region-cluster complexes. Finally, we show that the YMCs make up a substantial
fraction of recent star formation across the ring, exhibit an non-uniform
azimuthal distribution without a very coherent evolutionary trend along the
ring, and are capable of driving large-scale gas outflows.
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