Discovery of an extraordinarily massive cluster of red supergiants
@article{Figer2006DiscoveryOA, title={Discovery of an extraordinarily massive cluster of red supergiants}, author={Donald F. Figer and John W. MacKenty and Massimo Robberto and Kester W. Smith and Francisco Najarro and Rolf Peter Kudritzki and Artemio Herrero}, journal={The Astrophysical Journal}, year={2006}, volume={643}, pages={1166-1179} }
We report the discovery of an extraordinarily massive young cluster of stars in the Galaxy, having an inferred total initial cluster mass comparable to the most massive young clusters in the Galaxy. Using IRMOS, 2MASS, and Spitzer observations, we conclude that there are 14 red supergiants in the cluster, compared with five, in what was previously thought to be the richest Galactic cluster of such stars. We infer spectral types from near-infrared spectra that reveal deep CO bandhead absorption…
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