演講資訊

摘要：

Resolved young clusters in the Milky Way facilitate studies of homogenous populations over the entire stellar and substellar mass range. The main goals are i) to better understand cluster formation and dynamical evolution, and ii) to test and calibrate stellar and substellar evolutionary and atmospheric models. As examples I will present our recent work on the Galactic starburst clusters in NGC 3603, Westerlund 1, Arches, and Quintuplet, which represent the most extreme mode of present-day star formation in the Milky Way, and on the Hyades cluster, which at an average distance of 45 pc is the closest cluster to the Sun. For the starburst clusters, the most surprising results are i) the distinct motions of Galactic Center starburst clusters with respect to the field, ii) the strict coevality of star formation in the spiral arm clusters NGC 3603 YC and Westerlund 1, and iii) the close agreement between dynamical and photometric mass estimates for each of the clusters (indicating that the clusters are dynamically stable and could survive for extended periods of time). The proximity of the Hyades facilitates the most detailed study of stellar multiplicity in any stellar cluster.