The Messenger Astronomical Science
Towards a Sharper Picture of R136 with SPHERE Extreme Adaptive Optics
No. 168 (June 2017), 32–35
The SPHERE extreme adaptive optics instrument was used to observe the central core of the Large Magellanic Cloud, R136, in the near-infrared. This challenging observation demonstrated the capabilities of SPHERE for imaging distant clusters. More than one thousand sources have been detected in Ks- and J-band images in the small field of view of IRDIS covering almost 2.7 × 3.1 pc of the core of R136. Based on isochrone fitting of the colour-magnitude diagram, ages of 1 and 1.5 Myr for the inner 3-arcsecond core and the outer core of R136 fit our data best. The mass function slope is –0.96 ± 0.22 over the mass range of 3 to 300 M⊙. Using SPHERE data, we have gone one step further in partially resolving the core of R136, but this is certainly not the final step and higher resolution is still required.
Cite this article:
Khorrami, Z., Vakili, F., Lanz, T., Langlois, M., Lagadec, E., Meyer, M., Gratton, R., Beuzit, J., Mouillet, D.; Towards a Sharper Picture of R136 with SPHERE Extreme Adaptive Optics. The Messenger 168 (June 2017): 32–35. https://doi.org/10.18727/0722-6691/5023