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| Paper: |
Clarifying our View of Star Formation in Massive Young
Clusters with Adaptive Optics |
| Volume: |
440, UP2010: Have Observations Revealed a Variable Upper End of the Initial Mass Function? |
| Page: |
63 |
| Authors: |
Lu, J. R.; Clarkson, W.; McCrady, N.; Ghez, A. M.; Morris, M. R.; Stolte, A.; Yelda, S.; Do, T. |
| Abstract: |
Observations of massive (>104 M☉), young (<10 Myr) star clusters
within our Galaxy allow us to fully sample the upper end of the initial mass
function
within a single star formation event. Such clusters also reside in a range
of environments including the Galactic disk, the Galactic center region, and
immediately surrounding the supermassive black hole in our Galactic nucleus.
However, studies of these clusters are limited by crowding in the
dense cores, strong and
variable visible extinction, and confusion between cluster members
and contaminating field stars. Using Keck laser-guided adaptive optics
observations, we obtain high-resolution images and
high-precision proper motions to both
identify individual cluster members and investigate the kinematic properties
of such clusters. As we build up complete proper motion data sets for several
massive young clusters, our multi-color near-infrared photometry will
yield precise mass functions that can be compared to search for
environmental dependencies. |
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