UNVEILING THE NEW GENERATION OF STARS IN NGC 604 WITH GEMINI-NIRI

Journal Article · Wed Feb 15 04:00:00 EST 2012 · Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-6256/143/2/43· OSTI ID:22034715

Farina, Cecilia; Bosch, Guillermo L ^[1]

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1. Facultad de Ciencias Astronomicas y Geofisicas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Paseo de Bosque S/N (B1900FWA), La Plata (Argentina)

We present a near-infrared study focused on the detection and characterization of the youngest stellar component of the NGC 604 giant star-forming region in the Triangulum galaxy (M 33). By means of color-color diagrams derived from the photometry of JHK{sub s} images taken with the Gemini Near Infrared Imaging and Spectrometer (NIRI), we have found 68 candidate massive young stellar objects. The spatial distribution of these sources matches the areas where previous studies suggested that star formation might be taking place, and the high spatial resolution of our deep NIRI imaging allows us to pinpoint the star-forming knots. An analysis of the fraction of objects that show infrared excess suggests that the star formation is still active, supporting the presence of a second generation of stars being born, although the evidence for or against sequential star formation does not seem to be conclusive.

• OSTI ID: 22034715
• Journal Information: Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online), Journal Name: Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online) Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 143; ISSN 1538-3881
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
COLOR
DETECTION
DIAGRAMS
GALAXIES
GIANT STARS
IMAGES
INFRARED SPECTROMETERS
NEAR INFRARED RADIATION
PHOTOMETRY
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
SPATIAL RESOLUTION
STAR CLUSTERS
STAR EVOLUTION