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D.M. Elmegreen, F.R. Chromey (Vassar Coll.), E.J. McGrath (U. Hawaii), J.M. Ostenson (Vassar Coll.)
The star-forming properties of the circumnuclear ring in the starburst spiral galaxy NGC 3310 have been studied in U, B, I, J, H, and K bands using images from NICMOS and the 4-m telescope from Kitt Peak National Observatory, and from WFPC2 and NICMOS Hubble Space Telescope archives. The colors and magnitudes of the star-forming regions indicate ages less than 10 Myr, and masses of 104 to 105 M\odot for the largest dozen clumps (about 100 pc wide each), based on a comparison with Starburst 99 models. There are 17 candidate super star clusters (SSCs), primarily in the innermost southern spiral arm, with a similar range of ages and masses but with sizes on the order of only 10 pc. The broad wavelength coverage allows a determination of reddening in the vicinity of the SSCs. The luminosity distribution function based on approximately 100 diffuse circumnuclear clusters has a slope of ~-2, which is typical of results both in circumnuclear rings and in the main disks of other galaxies.
D.M.E. acknowledges support from NASA and STScI through HST grant AR-09197.01.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: elmegreen@vassar.edu