Hubble Space Telescope Observations of Star Clusters in M101

Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) images are used to identify and study star cluster candidates in the nearby spiral galaxy M101. About 3000 round, slightly resolved cluster candidates are identified in 10 ACS pointings covering an area of 106 arcmin². The cluster candidates' color and size distributions are consistent with those of star clusters in other nearby spirals. The majority of the M101 candidates are blue and more likely to be associated with the galaxy's spiral arms, implying that they are young. The galaxy-luminosity-normalized number of young massive clusters in M101 is similar to that found in other spirals, as is the cluster density at a fiducial absolute magnitude. We confirm a previous finding that M101 has a large number of faint red star clusters: if these are old globular clusters, then this galaxy has a very large globular cluster population. More plausible is that the faint red clusters are reddened young clusters; their colors and luminosities are also consistent with this explanation.

Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. These observations are associated with programs 8640 and 9490.