ALMA Detects CO(3-2) within a Super Star Cluster in NGC5253

Abstract

We present observations of CO(3-2) and ${}^{13}$CO(3-2) emission near the supernebula in the dwarf galaxy NGC 5253, which contains one of the best examples of a potential globular cluster in formation. The 0.3" resolution images reveal an unusual molecular cloud, "Cloud D1", coincident with the radio-infrared supernebula. The ~6-pc diameter cloud has a linewidth, $\Delta$ v = 21.7 km/s, that reflects only the gravitational potential of the star cluster residing within it. The corresponding virial mass is 2.5 x 10${}^5$ M${}_{\odot }$. The cluster appears to have a top-heavy initial mass function, with $M_{low}$~1-2 M${}_{\odot }$. Cloud D1 is optically thin in CO(3-2) probably because the gas is hot. Molecular gas mass is very uncertain but constitutes < 35% of the dynamical mass within the cloud boundaries. In spite of the presence of an estimated ~1500-2000 O stars within the small cloud, the CO appears relatively undisturbed. We propose that Cloud D1 consists of molecular clumps or cores, possibly star-forming, orbiting with more evolved stars in the core of the giant cluster.

Revised version, 12 pages, 2 figures. Accepted, ApJ. New version corrects typo in RA coordinate in Table 1 in original Journal article as appears in the Erratum

References in corpus (10)

• The R136 star cluster hosts several stars whose individual masses greatly exceed the accepted 150 Msun stellar mass limit
• The Effects of Stellar Rotation. II. A Comprehensive Set of Starburst99 Models
• Stellar Population Effects on the Inferred Photon Density at Reionization
• The localized chemical pollution in NGC 5253 revisited: Results from deep echelle spectrophotometry
• Highly efficient star formation in NGC 5253 possibly from stream-fed accretion
• The Very Massive Star Content of the Nuclear Star Clusters in NGC 5253
• Gas expulsion vs gas retention: what process dominates in young massive clusters?
• Inflows and Outflows in the Dwarf Starburst Galaxy NGC 5253: High-Resolution HI Observations
• VLA H53alpha observations of the central region of the Super Star Cluster Galaxy NGC 5253
• Recombination Lines of Embedded Star Clusters

Cited by in corpus (36)

• Modeling UV Radiation Feedback from Massive Stars: II. Dispersal of Star-Forming Giant Molecular Clouds by Photoionization and Radiation Pressure
• The Herschel Dwarf Galaxy Survey: II. Physical conditions, origin of [CII] emission, and porosity of the multiphase low-metallicity ISM
• Forming Super Star Clusters in the Central Starburst of NGC 253
• Efficiently Cooled Stellar Wind Bubbles in Turbulent Clouds I. Fractal Theory and Application to Star-Forming Clouds
• Star Formation Regulation and Self-Pollution by Stellar Wind Feedback
• Outflows Driven by Direct and Reprocessed Radiation Pressure in Massive Star Clusters
• Dense CO in Mrk 71-A: Superwind Suppressed in a Young Super Star Cluster
• Outflows from Super Star Clusters in the Central Starburst of NGC253
• Catastrophic Cooling in Superwinds: Line Emission and Non-equilibrium Ionization
• Physical Properties of II Zw 40's Super Star Cluster and Nebula: New Insights and Puzzles from UV Spectroscopy
• Radiation pressure in super star cluster formation
• Gas expulsion vs gas retention in young stellar clusters II: effects of cooling and mass segregation
• New Insights into the Physical Conditions and Internal Structure of a Candidate Proto-Globular Cluster
• WARPFIELD Population Synthesis: The physics of (extra-)Galactic star formation and feedback driven cloud structure and emission from sub-to-kpc scales
• Constraining the formation of NGC1052-DF2 from its unusual globular cluster population
• Density modulated star formation efficiency: implications for the observed abundance of ultra-violet luminous galaxies at z>10
• Explaining the multiple populations in globular clusters by multiple episodes of star formation and enrichment without gas expulsion from massive star feedback
• Infrared Radiation Feedback Does Not Regulate Star Cluster Formation
• Constraints on the [CII] luminosity of a proto-globular cluster at z~6 obtained with ALMA
• The Dependence of the Hierarchical Distribution of Star Clusters on Galactic Environment
• The Three Young Nuclear Super Star Clusters in NGC 5253
• Light Element Discontinuities Suggest an Early Termination of Star Formation in the Globular Cluster NGC 6402 (M14)
• Catastrophic Cooling in Superwinds. III. Non-equilibrium Photoionization
• Ionized Gas Motions and the Structure of Feedback Near a Forming Globular Cluster in NGC 5253
• ALMA CO(3-2) Observations of Star-Forming Filaments in a Gas-Poor Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy
• On the early evolution of massive star clusters: the case of cloud D1 and its embedded cluster in NGC 5253
• Multiple populations in globular clusters: Unified efforts from stellar evolution and chemical evolution models
• Gas, dust, and the CO-to-molecular gas conversion factor in low-metallicity starbursts
• Dense Molecular Filaments Feeding a Starburst: ALMA Maps of CO(3-2) in Henize 2-10
• Nebular C IV 1550 Imaging of the Metal-Poor Starburst Mrk 71: Direct Evidence of Catastrophic Cooling
• Molecular gas properties in young stellar clusters with a suppressed star cluster wind
• Ionized Gas in the NGC 5253 Supernebula:High Spatial and Spectral Resolution Observations with the JVLA and TEXES
• Catastrophic Cooling in Superwinds. II. Exploring the Parameter Space
• The heart of NGC 5253 as seen with MUSE-NFM: nitrogen enrichment through stellar chemical feedback at parsec scales
• Non-equilibrium Photoionization and Hydrodynamic Simulations of Starburst-driven Outflows
• Observing the influence of the youngest super star clusters in NGC 1569: Keck Brackett $\alpha$ spectroscopy