[64.02] Deep HST/ACS Photometry of the Young Cluster NGC 346 in the SMC

AAS 205th Meeting, 9-13 January 2005
Session 64 Extragalactic Star Clusters
Poster, Tuesday, January 11, 2005, 9:20am-6:30pm, Exhibit Hall

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[64.02] Deep HST/ACS Photometry of the Young Cluster NGC 346 in the SMC

A. Nota (STScI (ESA)), M. Clampin (GSFC), J. S. Gallagher (Univ. Wisconsin), M. Meixner (STScI), S. Oey (Univ. Michigan), A. Pasquali (ETH Zurich), M. Sirianni (STScI (ESA)), L. Smith (University College London), M. Tosi (Osservatorio Bologna), R. Walterbos (New Mexico State Univ.)

NGC346 is the largest, most massive and youngest HII region in the SMC. New, deep, spectacular, high resolution images of NGC346 have been obtained with the HST/ACS, with the objective of studying its stellar content. Wide field (WF) broad band V and I images provide deep photometry -- down to ~0.5 M_ø -- of the central cluster and of the numerous compact embedded clusters which are present in the NGC346 region. High resolution (HRC) images of the central cluster fully resolve the individual components. A wide-field H\alpha image provides unprecedented morphological details of the complex gas and dust structures. We will present the Luminosity and Mass Functions for the cluster(s) and their ages, we will discuss the possible presence of pre-main sequence objects, and we will discuss cluster properties in the broader context of the SMC low metallicity environment.

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