The evolution of star clusters: the resolved-star approach

We present the first results of a new technique to detect, locate, and characterize young dissolving star clusters. Using Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys archival images of the nearby galaxy IC2574, we performed stellar PSF photometry and selected the most massive stars as our first test sample. We used a group-finding algorithm on the selected massive stars to find cluster candidates. We then plot the color-magnitude diagrams for each group, and use stellar evolutionary models to estimate their age. So far, we found 79 groups with ages of up to about 100 Myr, displaying various sizes and densities.

Authors and Affiliations

1. Physics & Astronomy Department, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA

   Anne Pellerin

2. Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA

   Anne Pellerin

3. University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA, 6009, Perth, Australia

   Martin J. Meyer

4. Steward Observatory, 933 N. Cherry Ave., Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA

   Jason Harris

5. Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, 710 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA

   Daniela Calzetti

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anne Pellerin.

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