Young Super Star Clusters in the Starburst of M82: The Catalog

Abstract

Recent results from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) have resolved starbursts as collections of compact young stellar clusters. Here we present a photometric catalog of the young stellar clusters in the nuclear starburst of M82, observed with the HST WFPC2 in H (F656N) and in four optical broadband filters. We identify 197 young super stellar clusters. The compactness and high density of the sources led us to develop specific techniques to measure their sizes. Strong extinction lanes divide the starburst into five different zones, and we provide a catalog of young super star clusters for each of these. In the catalog we include relative coordinates, radii, fluxes, luminosities, masses, equivalent widths, extinctions, and other parameters. Extinction values have been derived from the broadband images. The radii range between 3 and 9 pc, with a mean value of 5:7 AE 1:4 pc, and a stellar mass between 10 4 and 10 6 M . The inferred masses and mean separation, comparable to the size of the super star clusters, together with their high volume density, provide strong evidence for the key ingredients postulated by Tenorio-Tagle and co-workers as required for the development of a supergalactic wind.