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Initial mass functions from ultraviolet stellar photometry: A comparison of Lucke and Hodge OB associations near 30 Doradus with the nearby fieldUV stellar photometry is presented for 1563 stars within a 40 minutes circular field in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), excluding the 10 min x 10 min field centered on R136 investigated earlier by Hill et al. (1993). Magnitudes are computed from images obtained by the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) in bands centered at 1615 A and 2558 A. Stellar masses and extinctions are estimated for the stars in associations using the evolutionary models of Schaerer et al. (1993), assuming the age is 4 Myr and that the local LMC extinction follows the Fitzpatrick (1985) 30 Dor extinction curve. The estimated slope of the initial mass function (IMF) for massive stars (greater than 15 solar mass) within the Lucke and Hodge (LH) associations is Gamma = -1.08 +/- 0.2. Initial masses and extinctions for stars not within LH associations are estimated assuming that the stellar age is either 4 Myr or half the stellar lifetime, whichever is larger. The estimated slope of the IMF for massive stars not within LH associations is Gamma = -1.74 +/- 0.3 (assuming continuous star formation), compared with Gamma = -1.35, and Gamma = -1.7 +/- 0.5, obtained for the Galaxy by Salpeter (1955) and Scalo (1986), respectively, and Gamma = -1.6 obtained for massive stars in the Galaxy by Garmany, Conti, & Chiosi (1982). The shallower slope of the association IMF suggests that not only is the star formation rate higher in associations, but that the local conditions favor the formation of higher mass stars there. We make no corrections for binaries or incompleteness.
Document ID
19950033970
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Hill, Jesse K.
(Hughes STX, Lanham, MD United States)
Isensee, Joan E.
(Hughes STX, Lanham, MD United States)
Cornett, Robert H.
(Hughes STX, Lanham, MD United States)
Bohlin, Ralph C.
(Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD United States)
O'Connell, Robert W.
(University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA United States)
Roberts, Morton S.
(National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA United States)
Smith, Andrew M.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Stecher, Theodore P.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
April 10, 1994
Publication Information
Publication: Astrophysical Journal, Part 1
Volume: 425
Issue: 1
ISSN: 0004-637X
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
95A65569
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-2596
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG5-700
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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