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Title:
Hubble Space Telescope Observations of Three Very Young Star Clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud
Authors:
Stanghellini, Letizia; Villaver, Eva; Shaw, Richard A.; Mutchler, Max
Affiliation:
AA(Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218; ; ; Affiliated with the Space Telescope Division of the European Space Agency, ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands; on leave from INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna.), AB(Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218; ; ), AC(National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719; ), AD(Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218; )
Publication:
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 598, Issue 2, pp. 1000-1004. (ApJ Homepage)
Publication Date:
12/2003
Origin:
UCP
ApJ Keywords:
ISM: Dust, Extinction, Galaxies: Star Clusters, ISM: H II Regions, Galaxies: Magellanic Clouds, Stars: Formation
DOI:
10.1086/379121
Bibliographic Code:
2003ApJ...598.1000S

Abstract

We present Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) broadband imagery and optical slitless spectroscopy of three young star clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). MA 1796 and MG 2 were previously known as planetary nebulae and were observed as such in our Hubble Space Telescope (HST) survey. With the HST spatial resolution, we show that they are instead H II regions, surrounding very young star clusters. A third compact H II region, MA 1797, was serendipitously observed by us since it falls in the same frame of MA 1796. A limited nebular analysis is presented as derived from the slitless spectra. We find that MA 1796 and MG 2 are very heavily extincted, with c>=1.4, defining them as the most extincted optically discovered star-forming regions in the SMC. MA 1796 and MG 2 are extremely compact (less than 1 pc across), while MA 1797, with diameter of about 3 pc, is similar to the ultracompact H II regions already known in the SMC. Stellar analysis is presented, and approximate reddening correction for the stars is derived from the Balmer decrement. Limited analysis of their stellar content and their ionized radiation shows that these compact H II regions are ionized by small stellar clusters whose hottest stars are at most of the B0 class. These very compact, extremely reddened, and probably very dense H II regions in the SMC offer insight into the most recent star formation episodes in a very low metallicity galaxy.

Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555.

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