Tracing the earliest stages of star and cluster formation in 19 nearby galaxies with PHANGS-JWST and HST: compact 3.3 $\hat{I}¼$m PAH emitters and their relation to the optical census of star clusters

M. Jimena Rodríguez, Janice C. Lee, Remy Indebetouw +25

The earliest stages of star and cluster formation are hidden within dense cocoons of gas and dust, limiting their detection at optical wavelengths. With the unprecedented infrared…