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O. K. Krienke (Seattle Pacific University), P. W. Hodge (University of Washington)
We have completed a survey of 231 open clusters in M31 using archival HST images, determining photometric and structural properties of most of the clusters. The range in integrated absolute magnitude reaches down to M(V) = 0, several magnitudes fainter than previous surveys in M31. There are interesting correlations of cluster characteristics (luminosity, color, inferred age, structure) with position in the disk of M31, both with respect to the spiral arms and with respect to the distance from the galaxy's center. For example, the clusters in the inter-arm regions are significantly redder and thus older than those in the arms. Similarly, the clusters in the inner parts of the disk, in the amorphous regions around 6 kpc from the center, are redder than those in the more star-formation-rich areas between 10 and 12 kpc from the center, although the latter regions show a wide range in inferred ages. From the color-frequency diagram we infer that the global age distribution for clusters indicates a generally short dynamical lifetime.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 5
© 2004. The American Astronomical Society.