Low-metallicity Young Clusters in the Outer Galaxy. III. Sh 2-127

Abstract

In deep near-infrared imaging of the low-metallicity ($[O/H]=-0.7$ dex) H II region Sh 2-127 (S127) with Subaru/MOIRCS, we detected two young clusters with 413 members (S127A) in a slightly extended H II region and another with 338 members (S127B) in a compact H II region. The limiting magnitude was $K=21.3$ mag (10$\sigma$), corresponding to a mass detection limit of $\sim$0.2 $M_{\odot }$. These clusters are an order of magnitude larger than previously studied young low-metallicity clusters and larger than the majority of solar neighborhood young clusters. Fits to the K-band luminosity functions indicate very young cluster ages of 0.5 Myr for S127A and 0.1-0.5 Myr for S127B, consistent with the large extinction (up to $A_V\simeq 20$ mag) from thick molecular clouds and the presence of a compact H II region and class I source candidates, and suggest that the initial mass function (IMF) of the low-metallicity clusters is indistinguishable from typical solar neighborhood IMFs. Disk fractions of $28\%\pm 3\%$ for S127A and $40\%\pm 4\%$ for S127B are significantly lower than those of similarly aged solar neighborhood clusters ($\sim$50$\%$-60$\%$). The disk fraction for S127B is higher than those of previously studied low-metallicity clusters ($<$30 $\%$), probably due to S127B's age. This suggests that a large fraction of very young stars in low-metallicity environments have disks, but the disks are lost on a very short timescale. These results are consistent with our previous studies of low-metallicity star-forming regions, suggesting that a solar neighborhood IMF and low disk fraction are typical characteristics for low-metallicity regions, regardless of cluster scales.

arXiv commentAccepted for publication in AJ

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