Testing the role of environmental effects on the Initial Mass Function of low mass stars. (arXiv:2101.08804v1 [astro-ph.GA])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Damian_B/0/1/0/all/0/1">Belinda Damian</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Jose_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Jessy Jose</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Samal_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Manash R. Samal</a> (2), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Moraux_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">Estelle Moraux</a> (3), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Das_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">Swagat R. Das</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Patra_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">Sudeshna Patra</a> (1) ((1) IISER Tirupati, India, (2) PRL, India, (3) Univ. Grenoble Alpes, France)
In star formation process, the vital role of environmental factors such as
feedback from massive stars and stellar density on the form of the Initial Mass
Function (IMF) at low-mass end is yet to be understood. Hence a systematic,
high sensitive observational analysis of a sample of regions under diverse
environmental conditions is essential. We analyse the IMF of eight young
clusters ($<$5 Myr) namely IC1848-West, IC1848-East, NGC1893, NGC2244, NGC2362,
NGC6611, Stock8 and Cygnus OB2 which are located at the Galactocentric distance
($R_g$) range $sim$6-12 kpc along with nearby cluster IC348 using deep near-IR
photometry and Gaia-DR2. These clusters are embedded in massive stellar
environments of radiation strength $log(L_{FUV}/L_{odot})$ $sim$2.6 to 6.8,
$log(L_{EUV})$ $sim$42.2 to 50.85 photons/s, with stellar density in the range
of $sim$170 – 1220 stars/pc$^2$. After structural analysis and field
decontamination we obtain an unbiased, uniformly sensitive sample of Pre-Main
Sequence members of the clusters down to brown-dwarf regime. The log-normal fit
to the IMF of nine clusters gives the mean characteristic mass ($m_c$) and
$sigma$ of 0.32$pm$0.02 $M_odot$ and 0.47$pm$0.02, respectively. We compare
the IMF with that of low and high mass clusters across the Milky Way. We also
check for any systematic variation with respect to the radiation field
strength, stellar density as well with $R_g$. We conclude that there is no
strong evidence for environmental effect in the underlying form of IMF of these
clusters.
In star formation process, the vital role of environmental factors such as
feedback from massive stars and stellar density on the form of the Initial Mass
Function (IMF) at low-mass end is yet to be understood. Hence a systematic,
high sensitive observational analysis of a sample of regions under diverse
environmental conditions is essential. We analyse the IMF of eight young
clusters ($<$5 Myr) namely IC1848-West, IC1848-East, NGC1893, NGC2244, NGC2362,
NGC6611, Stock8 and Cygnus OB2 which are located at the Galactocentric distance
($R_g$) range $sim$6-12 kpc along with nearby cluster IC348 using deep near-IR
photometry and Gaia-DR2. These clusters are embedded in massive stellar
environments of radiation strength $log(L_{FUV}/L_{odot})$ $sim$2.6 to 6.8,
$log(L_{EUV})$ $sim$42.2 to 50.85 photons/s, with stellar density in the range
of $sim$170 – 1220 stars/pc$^2$. After structural analysis and field
decontamination we obtain an unbiased, uniformly sensitive sample of Pre-Main
Sequence members of the clusters down to brown-dwarf regime. The log-normal fit
to the IMF of nine clusters gives the mean characteristic mass ($m_c$) and
$sigma$ of 0.32$pm$0.02 $M_odot$ and 0.47$pm$0.02, respectively. We compare
the IMF with that of low and high mass clusters across the Milky Way. We also
check for any systematic variation with respect to the radiation field
strength, stellar density as well with $R_g$. We conclude that there is no
strong evidence for environmental effect in the underlying form of IMF of these
clusters.
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