The Extremely Young Star Cluster Population In Haro 11

TL;DR

This study analyzes the young star cluster population in Haro 11, revealing their ages, masses, and flux excesses, providing insights into starburst galaxy evolution and challenging existing models.

Contribution

It presents a detailed multi-band photometric analysis of Haro 11's star clusters, highlighting their unexpectedly young ages and flux excesses, advancing understanding of starburst phases.

Findings

Star clusters are predominantly 0.5-40 Myr old.

Clusters with 1-10 Myr show flux excesses in H and I bands.

The young cluster population challenges current evolutionary models.

Abstract

We have performed a deep multi-band photometric analysis of the star cluster population of Haro 11. This starburst galaxy (log L_FUV = 10.3 L_sun) is considered a nearby analogue of Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at high redshift. The study of the numerous star clusters in the systems is an effective way to investigate the formation and evolution of the starburst phase. In fact, the SED fitting models have revealed a surprisingly young star cluster population, with ages between 0.5 and 40 Myr, and estimated masses between 10^3 and 10^7 solar masses. An independent age estimation has been done with the EW(Halpha) analysis of each cluster. This last analysis has confirmed the young ages of the clusters. We noticed that the clusters with ages between 1 and 10 Myr show a flux excess in H (NIC3/F160W) and/or I (WFPC2/F814W) bands with respect to the evolutionary models. Once more Haro 11 represents a challenge to our understanding.