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Related papers: Is the massive young cluster Westerlund I bound?

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(Abridged) We have used Gaia EDR3 data, together with spectra of a large sample of luminous stars in the field surrounding Westerlund 1, to explore the extent of the cluster. We carry out a non-parametric analysis of proper motions and…

We present new low and intermediate-resolution spectroscopic observations of the Wolf Rayet (WR) star population in the massive starburst cluster Westerlund 1. Finding charts are presented for five new WRs - four WNL and one WCL - raising…

Astrophysics · Physics 2007-05-23 Ignacio Negueruela , J. Simon Clark

The Westerlund 1 (Wd 1) is the most massive known young star cluster in the Galaxy, and an extended $\gamma$-ray source HESS J1646-458 surrounding it has been detected up to 80 TeV in the very high energy, implying that cosmic rays (CRs)…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2026-01-27 Zhaodong Shi , Rui-zhi Yang

Recent optical and IR studies have revealed that the heavily-reddened starburst cluster Westerlund 1 (Wd 1) contains at least 22 Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars, comprising the richest WR population of any galactic cluster. We present results of a…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-11 S. L. Skinner , A. E. Simmons , S. A. Zhekov , M. Teodoro , A. Damineli , F. Palla

We present the most comprehensive and deepest X-ray study to date of the properties of the richest Wolf-Rayet (WR) population observed in a single stellar cluster, Westerlund 1 (Wd1). This work is based on 36 Chandra observations obtained…

Yellow hypergiants (YHGs) are often presumed to represent a transitional post-red supergiant (RSG) phase for stars $\sim$30-40 \msun. Here we present visual-wavelength echelle spectra of six YHG candidates in the Galactic cluster Westerlund…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2023-08-02 Emma R. Beasor , Nathan Smith , Jennifer E. Andrews

The typically large distances, extinction, and crowding of Galactic supermassive star clusters have so far hampered the identification of their very low mass members, required to extend our understanding of star and planet formation, and…

Massive stars exhibit spectroscopic and photometric variability over a wide range of timescales. However the physical mechanisms driving this behaviour remain poorly understood. Westerlund 1 presents an ideal laboratory for studying these…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2015-05-18 J. S. Clark , B. W. Ritchie , I. Negueruela

We present fundamental parameters of 4 massive eclipsing binaries in the young massive cluster Westerlund 1. The goal is to measure accurate masses and radii of their component stars, which provide much needed constraints for evolutionary…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2015-05-30 E. Koumpia , A. Z. Bonanos

Westerlund 1 is a young, massive Galactic starburst cluster that contains a rich coeval population of Wolf-Rayet stars, hot- and cool-phase transitional supergiants, and a magnetar. We use spectroscopic and photometric observations of the…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2015-05-19 B. W. Ritchie , J. S. Clark , I. Negueruela , N. Langer

We present a new method to determine the age spread of resolved stellar populations in a starburst cluster. The method relies on a two-step process. In the first step, kinematic members of the cluster are identified based on multi-epoch…

Westerlund 1 (Wd 1) is the most massive stellar cluster in the Galaxy and associated with an extended region of TeV emission. Here we report the results of a search for GeV gamma-ray emission in this region. The analysis is based on ~4.5…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2015-06-16 S. Ohm , J. A. Hinton , R. White

We present the diffuse X-ray emission identified in Chandra observations of the young, massive Galactic star cluster Westerlund 1. After removing point-like X-ray sources down to a completeness limit of 2e31 erg/s, we identify 3e34 erg/s…

The galactic cluster Westerlund 1 contains a rich population of evolved, massive stars, and a high binary fraction has been inferred from previous multiwavelength observations. We use multi-epoch spectroscopy of a large sample of early-type…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2022-04-20 B. W. Ritchie , J. S. Clark , I. Negueruela , F. Najarro

Stellar clusters are potential acceleration sites of very-high-energy (VHE, E > 100GeV) particles since they host supernova remnants (SNRs) and pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe). Additionally, in stellar clusters, particles can also be accelerated…

We present a spectroscopic and photometric determination of the distance to the young Galactic open cluster Westerlund 2 using WFPC2 imaging from the Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based optical spectroscopy. HST imaging in the F336W,…

We present an updated catalog of 1300 objects in the field of M31, including 670 likely star clusters of various types. Archival images were inspected to confirm cluster classifications where possible, but most of the classifications were…

Recent JWST observations towards Westerlund 1 revealed extensive nebular emission associated with the cluster. Given the age of the region and proximity of that material to massive stars it cannot be primordial star forming gas and the…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2025-10-09 C. J. K. Larkin , J. Mackey , T. J. Haworth , A. A. C. Sander

We present first results from a high resolution multi-band survey of the Westerlund 2 region with the Hubble Space Telescope. Specifically, we imaged Westerlund 2 with the Advanced Camera for Surveys through the $F555W$, $F814W$, and…