NGC1818 unveils the origin of the extended main-sequence turn-off in young Magellanic Clouds clusters

Giacomo Cordoni (), Antonino P. Milone, Anna F. Marino, Michele Cignoni, Edoardo P. Lagioia, Marco Tailo, Marília Carlos, Emanuele Dondoglio, Sohee Jang, Anjana Mohandasan and Maria V. Legnardi
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Giacomo Cordoni: Università degli Studi di Padova
Antonino P. Milone: Università degli Studi di Padova
Anna F. Marino: Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri
Michele Cignoni: Università degli Studi di Pisa
Edoardo P. Lagioia: Università degli Studi di Padova
Marco Tailo: Università degli Studi di Bologna
Marília Carlos: Università degli Studi di Padova
Emanuele Dondoglio: Università degli Studi di Padova
Sohee Jang: Università degli Studi di Padova
Anjana Mohandasan: Università degli Studi di Padova
Maria V. Legnardi: Università degli Studi di Padova

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract The origin of young star clusters represents a major challenge for modern stellar astrophysics. While stellar rotation partially explains the colour spread observed along main-sequence turn-offs, i.e. where stars leave the main-sequence after the exhaustion of hydrogen in their core, and the multiple main sequences in the colour-magnitude diagrams of stellar systems younger than approximately 2 Gyr, it appears that an age difference may still be required to fulfill the observational constraints. Here we introduce an alternative approach that exploits the main-sequence turn-on, i.e. the point alongside the colour-magnitude diagram where pre-main-sequence stars join the main-sequence, to disentangle between the effects of stellar rotation and age to assess the presence, or lack thereof, of prolonged star formation in the approximately 40-Myr-old cluster NGC1818. Our results provide evidence for a fast star formation, confined within 8 Myr, thus excluding age differences as responsible for the extended main-sequence turn-offs, and leading the way to alternative observational perspectives in the exploration of stellar populations in young clusters.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31977-y

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