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The Formation and Dynamics of the SMC Cluster NGC 346

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2007

Linda J. Smith
Linda J. Smith*
Affiliation:
Space Telescope Science Institute and European Space Agency, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower St., London WC1E 6BT, UK
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Abstract

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The young resolved cluster NGC 346 in the SMC provides us with the opportunity to study the details of cluster formation and the efficiency of feedback mechanisms at low metallicity. I describe the latest results from a large-scale study of this cluster and its H II region N66. HST/ACS images reveal that NGC 346 is composed of a number of sub-clusters which appear to be coeval with ages of 3±1 Myr, strongly suggesting formation by the hierarchical fragmentation of a giant molecular cloud (Nota et al. 2006; Sabbi et al. 2007a). HST Hα images show that the central cluster and the sub-clusters still contain some of their residual gas. We present high resolution spectroscopy of the ionized gas, and find that it shows little evidence for gas motions. This suggests that, at the low SMC metallicity, the cluster O star winds are not powerful enough to sweep away the residual gas. Instead, we find that stellar radiation is the dominant process shaping the interstellar environment of NGC 346.

Keywords

Galaxies: individual (SMC)galaxies: star clustersISM: individual (N66)ISM: H II regionsstars: formationstars: windsoutflows
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 3 , Symposium S246: Dynamical Evolution of Dense Stellar Systems , September 2007 , pp. 55 - 59
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2008

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