Figure 2.
JHK color-composite
image of RCW 41
observed with GeMS
at Gemini South.
1 and 2, respectively; also called “collect and
collapse”); interaction with a pre-existing
turbulent media (3; leading to the formation
of pillars); and interaction with pre-existing
clumps (4).
One of the key questions in this field of research is what is the causal link between
the first generation massive stars (the ones
associated with the large HII regions) and
the young (possibly second-generation)
stars observed at the edges of HII regions?
Dissecting the young clusters that formed
at the edges of HII regions is therefore an
important step to refine our knowledge on
star-formation mechanisms.
The Sharp Gemini Eye
Studies of young star clusters are still limited. Young, recently formed stars in clusters
are shy, and usually hide inside a heavily obscured and dense environment. High spatial
resolution in the near infrared (NIR) is needed to resolve individual members and detect
the fainter ones.
The Gemini South telescope
offers one of the most advanced adaptive optics (AO)
suites currently available on
a large telescope. Among
these capabilities, the Gemini
Multi-conjugate adaptive optics System (GeMS) delivers a
uniform, almost diffractionlimited image quality at nearinfrared wavelengths over an
extended field-of-view of 2
arcminutes across.
Figure 3.
GeMS/GSAOI (top) and
SofI (bottom) images of
the central part of the
RCW 41 cluster observed
in H-band.
4
GeMS utilizes five artificial
laser guide stars, up to three
natural guide stars, and multiple deformable mirrors (DMs)
that are optically conjugated
with the main atmospheric
turbulence layers. This results
GeminiFocus
in an AO corrected field that is 10 to 20 times
larger than previous generations of AO systems. GeMS works in conjunction with the
Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager (GSAOI), which covers an 85” × 85” field-of-view
with a plate scale of about 20 milliarcseconds. This combination of new instruments
is perfectly suited for young cluster studies,
as it provides a uniform and unprecedented
spatial resolution spanning a large portion of
the young cluster’s angular extent.
Back in 2013, during the GeMS