The super star clusters of SBS 0335-052

Abstract

WFPC2 continuum images of the low metallicity Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxy SBS 0335-052 revealed 6 intense point source that were deemed to be super star clusters. Subsequent observations with NICMOS in the infrared continuum and Paschen α reveals that only 2 of the sources have very young stars with the other point sources as clusters that may have ended their episodes of star formation. The optical images show a probable supernova created cavity to the north of the present clusters, while the currently active star forming clusters lie at the southern end of the cluster. This indicates a possible string of induced star formation propagating from the north to the south. The presence of a large number of O stars in a small volume raises the question of whether super star clusters might be the breeding grounds for intermediate mass black holes.To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html