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I. Biswas, K.E. Johnson (University of Virginia)
Super Star Clusters (SSCs) are the most extreme star forming environments in the local universe. Results from optical observations have suggested that SSCs are simply the statistical tail of a power law luminosity (mass) distribution of index ~-2. However, optical luminosity functions are complicated by evolution effects and extinction. Free of these constraints, centimeter wave radio observations pin down the cluster luminosity function to the first few Myrs when natal SSCs are still embedded in ultradense H II regions. We investigate the earliest stages of SSCs in the starburst galaxy Henize 2-10 using high resolution Very Large Array observations at 5, 8.3, 15, and 23 GHz. We use the Pie Town link at lower frequencies to obtain relatively well matched beams to obtain a linear resolution of ~10 pc. Such a high resolution should allow us to detect natal clusters with masses ~104 M\odot as 10\sigma detections. The 23 GHz flux (high frequency emission is dominated by optically thin, thermal emission) indicates that all of the detected SSCs in Henize 2-10 have a mass greater than ~105 M\odot. We rule out the possibility of the clusters being self gravitating from the H92\alpha line width of ~ 200 km s-1. The absence of the formation of lower mass clusters is inconsistent with a power law luminosity function, which we verify with a KS test. Thus, the luminosity function of natal clusters, which we dub the Initial Cluster Luminosity Function (ICLF), suggests that SSCs require a special mode of star formation. We plan follow-up radio observations to investigate the behavior of the ICLF in a variety of starburst and merger environments.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: ib7d@virginia.edu
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #4
© 2005. The American Astronomical Soceity.