Bibcode
DOI
Figer, Donald F.; MacKenty, John W.; Robberto, Massimo; Smith, Kester; Najarro, Francisco; Kudritzki, Rolf P.; Herrero, Artemio
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 643, Issue 2, pp. 1166-1179.
Advertised on:
6
2006
Journal
Citations
148
Refereed citations
123
Description
We report the discovery of an extraordinarily massive young cluster of
stars in the Galaxy, having an inferred total initial cluster mass
comparable to the most massive young clusters in the Galaxy. Using
IRMOS, 2MASS, and Spitzer observations, we conclude that there are 14
red supergiants in the cluster, compared with five, in what was
previously thought to be the richest Galactic cluster of such stars. We
infer spectral types from near-infrared spectra that reveal deep CO
bandhead absorption that can only be fit by red supergiants. We identify
a gap of ΔKs~4 mag between the stars and the bulk of
the other stars in the region that can only be fit by models if the
brightest stars in the cluster are red supergiants. We estimate a
distance of 5.8 kpc to the cluster by associating an OH maser with the
envelope of one of the stars. We also identify a ``yellow'' supergiant
of G6 I type in the cluster. Assuming a Salpeter IMF, we infer an
initial cluster mass of 20,000-40,000 Msolar for cluster ages
of 7-12 Myr. Continuing with these assumptions, we find that 80% of the
initial mass and 99% of the number of stars remain at the present time.
We associate the cluster with an X-ray source (detected by ASCA and
Einstein), a recently discovered very high energy γ-ray source
(detected by INTEGRAL and HESS), and several nonthermal radio sources,
finding that these objects are likely related to recent supernovae in
the cluster. In particular, we claim that the cluster has produced at
least one recent supernova remnant with properties similar to the Crab
Nebula.