TY - GEN
T1 - Star cluster systems in interacting and starburst galaxies
T2 - Workshop on Extragalactic Globular Cluster Systems
AU - de Grijs, Richard
PY - 2003
Y1 - 2003
N2 - The large majority of extragalactic star cluster studies done to date have essentially used two or three-passband aperture photometry, combined with theoretical stellar population synthesis models, to obtain age estimates. The accuracy to which this can be done depends on the number of observations through different (broad-band) filters available as well as, crucially, on the actual wavelength range covered. I show, based on the examples of the nearby starburst galaxies NGC 3310 and M82, that the addition of, in particular, near-infrared passbands to a set of optical filters greatly enhances our ability to disentangle age, metallicity and extinction parameters for star clusters with ages younger than a few Gyr. In addition, for the intermediate-age star cluster system in the fossil starburst region of M82 we find (i) a well-defined burst of cluster formation at slightly older ages than derived from previous estimates based on optical fluxes alone, and (ii) that by considering only the clusters originating in this burst of cluster formation, we uncover the first conclusive observational evidence for an unambiguous turn-over in the luminosity function of a coeval star cluster system with an age as young as similar to 1 Gyr.
AB - The large majority of extragalactic star cluster studies done to date have essentially used two or three-passband aperture photometry, combined with theoretical stellar population synthesis models, to obtain age estimates. The accuracy to which this can be done depends on the number of observations through different (broad-band) filters available as well as, crucially, on the actual wavelength range covered. I show, based on the examples of the nearby starburst galaxies NGC 3310 and M82, that the addition of, in particular, near-infrared passbands to a set of optical filters greatly enhances our ability to disentangle age, metallicity and extinction parameters for star clusters with ages younger than a few Gyr. In addition, for the intermediate-age star cluster system in the fossil starburst region of M82 we find (i) a well-defined burst of cluster formation at slightly older ages than derived from previous estimates based on optical fluxes alone, and (ii) that by considering only the clusters originating in this burst of cluster formation, we uncover the first conclusive observational evidence for an unambiguous turn-over in the luminosity function of a coeval star cluster system with an age as young as similar to 1 Gyr.
U2 - 10.1007/10857603_10
DO - 10.1007/10857603_10
M3 - Conference proceeding contribution
SN - 9783540404729
SN - 3540404724
T3 - ESO astrophysics symposia
SP - 66
EP - 71
BT - Extragalactic globular cluster systems
A2 - Kissler-Patig, Markus
PB - Springer, Springer Nature
CY - Berlin ; New York
Y2 - 27 August 2002 through 30 August 2002
ER -