The Stellar Content of Obscured Galactic Giant H II Regions. I. W43
Abstract
Near-infrared images of the Galactic giant H II region W43 reveal a dense stellar cluster at its center. Broadband JHK photometry of the young cluster and K-band spectra of three of its bright stars are presented. The 2 μm spectrum of the brightest star in the cluster is very well matched to the spectra of Wolf-Rayet stars of subtype WN7. Two other stars are identified as O-type giants or supergiants by their N III and C IV emission. The close spatial clustering of O- and the hydrogen WN-type stars is analogous to the intense starburst clusters R136 in the Large Magellanic Cloud and NGC 3603 in the Galaxy.
- Publication:
-
The Astronomical Journal
- Pub Date:
- March 1999
- DOI:
- 10.1086/300791
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/9812070
- Bibcode:
- 1999AJ....117.1392B
- Keywords:
-
- ISM: H II REGIONS;
- INFRARED: STARS;
- STARS: EARLY-TYPE;
- STARS: FUNDAMENTAL PARAMETERS;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 22 pages (LaTex), including 7 figures (eps)