An HST/WFPC Survey of Bright Young Clusters in M31. II. Photometry of Less Luminous Clusters in the Fields

Abstract

We report on the properties of 89 low-mass star clusters located in the vicinity of luminous young clusters ("blue globulars") in the disk of M31. Eighty-two of the clusters are newly detected. We have determined their integrated magnitudes and colors, based on a series of Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 exposures in blue and red (HST filters F450W and F814W). The integrated apparent magnitudes range from F450W = 17.5 to 22.5, and the colors indicate a wide range of ages. Stellar color-magnitude diagrams for all clusters were obtained and those with bright enough stars were fit to theoretical isochrones to provide age estimates. The ages range from 12 Myr to >500 Myr. Reddenings, which average E(F450 – F814) = 0.59 with a dispersion of 0.21 mag, were derived from the main-sequence fitting for those clusters. Comparison of these ages and integrated colors with single population theoretical models with solar abundances suggests a color offset of 0.085 mag at the ages tested. Estimated ages for the remaining clusters are based on their measured colors. The age-frequency diagram shows a steep decline of number with age, with a large decrease in number per age interval between the youngest and the oldest clusters detected.

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