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L. Clifton Johnson

Publications and source records attributed to L. Clifton Johnson.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Three-Dimensional Structure and Dust Extinction in the Small Magellanic Cloud

We examine the three-dimensional structure and dust extinction properties in a ~ 200 pc $\times$ 100 pc region in the southwest bar of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). We model a deep Hubble Space Telescope optical color-magnitude diagram (CMD) of red clump and red giant branch stars to infer the dust extinction and galactic structure. We model the distance distribution of the stellar component with a Gaussian and find a centroid distance of 65.2 kpc (distance modulus $μ$ = 19.07 mag) with a FWHM $\approx$ 11.3 kpc. This large extent along the line of sight reproduces results from previous studies using variable stars and red clump stars. Additionally, we find an offset between the stellar and dust distributions, with the dust on the near side relative to the stars by 3.22 $^{+1.69}_{-1.44}$ kpc, resulting in a 73% reddened fraction of stars. Modeling the dust layer with a log-normal $A_V$ distribution indicates a mean extinction $\langle A_V \rangle$ = 0.41 $\pm$ 0.09 mag. We also calculate $A_V/N_H$ = 3.2 - 4.2 $\times10^{-23}$ mag cm$^2$ H$^{-1}$ which is significantly lower than the Milky Way value but is comparable to previous SMC dust-to-gas ratio measurements. Our results yield the first joint dust extinction and 3D geometry properties in a key region in the SMC. This study demonstrates that CMD modeling can be a powerful tool to simultaneously constrain dust extinction and geometry properties in nearby galaxies.

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PHAT XX. AGB stars and other cool giants in M31 star clusters

The presence of AGB stars in clusters provides key constraints for stellar models, as has been demonstrated with historical data from the Magellanic Clouds. In this work, we look for candidate AGB stars in M31 star clusters from the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) survey. Our photometric criteria selects stars brighter than the tip of the red giant branch, which includes the bulk of the thermally-pulsing AGB stars as well as early-AGB stars and other luminous cool giants expected in young stellar populations (e.g. massive red supergiants, and intermediate-mass red helium-burning stars). The AGB stars can be differentiated, a posteriori, using the ages already estimated for our cluster sample. 937 candidates are found within the cluster aperture radii, half (450) of which are very likely cluster members. Cross-matching with additional databases reveals two carbon stars and ten secure variables among them. The field-corrected age distribution reveals the presence of young supergiants peaking at ages smaller than 100 Myr, followed by a long tail of AGB stars extending up to the oldest possible ages. This long tail reveals the general decrease in the numbers of AGB stars from initial values of 50e-6/Msun at 100 Myr down to 5e-6/Msun at 10 Gyr. Theoretical models of near-solar metallicity reproduce this general trend, although with localized discrepancies over some age intervals, whose origin is not yet identified. The entire catalogue is released together with finding charts to facilitate follow-up studies.

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Combined Effects of Rotation and Age Spreads on Extended Main Sequence Turn Offs

The extended main sequence turn offs (eMSTOs) of several young to intermediate age clusters are examined in the Magellanic Clouds and the Milky Way. We explore the effects of extended star formation (eSF) and a range of stellar rotation rates on the behavior of the color-magnitude diagram (CMD), paying particular attention to the MSTO. We create synthetic stellar populations based on MESA stellar models to simulate observed Hubble Space Telescope and Gaia star cluster data. We model the effect of rotation as a non-parametric distribution, allowing for maximum flexibility. In our models the slow rotators comprise the blueward, and fast rotators the redward portion of the eMSTO. We simulate data under three scenarios: non-rotating eSF, a range of rotation rates with a single age, and a combination of age and rotation effects. We find that two of the five clusters (the youngest and oldest) favor an age spread, but these also achieve the overall worst fits of all clusters. The other three clusters show comparable statistical evidence between rotation and an age spread. In all five cases, a rotation rate distribution alone is capable of qualitatively matching the observed eMSTO structure. In future work, we aim to compare our predicted Vsin(i) with observations in order to better constrain the physics related to stellar rotation.

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On the nature of a shell of young stars in the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud

Understanding the evolutionary history of the Magellanic Clouds requires an in-depth exploration and characterization of the stellar content in their outer regions, which ultimately are key to tracing the epochs and nature of past interactions. We present new deep images of a shell-like over-density of stars in the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The shell, also detected in photographic plates dating back to the fifties, is located at ~1.9 degr from the center of the SMC in the north-east direction.The structure and stellar content of this feature were studied with multi-band, optical data from the Survey of the MAgellanic Stellar History (SMASH) carried out with the Dark Energy Camera on the Blanco Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. We also investigate the kinematic of the stars in the shell using the Gaia Data Release 2. The shell is composed of a young population with an age ~ 150 Myr, with no contribution from an old population. Thus, it is hard to explain its origin as the remnant of a tidally disrupted stellar system. The spatial distribution of the young main-sequence stars shows a rich sub-structure, with a spiral arm-like feature emanating from the main shell and a separated small arc of young stars close to the globular cluster NGC 362. We find that the absolute g-band magnitude of the shell is M_{g,shell} = -10.78+/- 0.02, with a surface brightness of mu_{g,shell} = 25.81+/- 0.01 mag/arcsec^{2}. We have not found any evidence that this feature is of tidal origin or a bright part of a spiral arm-like structure. Instead, we suggest that the shell formed in a recent star formation event, likely triggered by an interaction with the Large Magellanic Cloud and/or the Milky Way, ~150 Myr ago.

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Stellar multiplicity: an interdisciplinary nexus

Our uncertainties about binary star systems (and triples and so on) limit our capabilities in literally every single one of the Thematic Areas identified for Astro2020. We need to understand the population statistics of stellar multiplicity and their variations with stellar type, chemistry, and dynamical environment: Correct interpretation of any exoplanet experiment depends on proper treatment of resolved and unresolved binaries; stellar multiplicity is a direct outcome of star and companion formation; the most precise constraints on stellar structure come from well-characterized binary systems; stellar populations heavily rely on stellar and binary evolution modeling; high-redshift galaxy radiation and reionization is controlled by binary-dependent stellar physics; compact objects are the outcomes of binary evolution; the interpretation of multi-messenger astronomy from gravitational waves, light, and neutrinos relies on understanding the products of binary star evolution; near-Universe constraints on the Hubble constant with Type Ia supernovae and gravitational-wave mergers are subject to systematics related to their binary star progenitors; local measures of dark-matter substructure masses are distorted by binary populations. In order to realize the scientific goals in each of these themes over the next decade, we therefore need to understand how binary stars and stellar multiplets are formed and distributed in the space of masses, composition, age, and orbital properties, and how the distribution evolves with time. This white paper emphasizes the interdisciplinary importance of binary-star science and advocates that coordinated investment from all astrophysical communities will benefit almost all branches of astrophysics.

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SMASHing the LMC: A Tidally-induced Warp in the Outer LMC and a Large-scale Reddening Map

We present a study of the three-dimensional (3D) structure of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) using ~2.2 million red clump (RC) stars selected from the Survey of the MAgellanic Stellar History. To correct for line-of-sight dust extinction, the intrinsic RC color and magnitude and their radial dependence are carefully measured by using internal nearly dust-free regions. These are then used to construct an accurate 2D reddening map (165 square degrees with ~10 arcmin resolution) of the LMC disk and the 3D spatial distribution of RC stars. An inclined disk model is fit to the 2D distance map yielding a best-fit inclination angle i = 25.86(+0.73,-1.39) degrees with random errors of +\-0.19 degrees and line-of-nodes position angle theta = 149.23(+6.43,-8.35) degrees with random errors of +/-0.49 degrees. These angles vary with galactic radius, indicating that the LMC disk is warped and twisted likely due to the repeated tidal interactions with the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). For the first time, our data reveal a significant warp in the southwestern part of the outer disk starting at rho ~ 7 degrees that departs from the defined LMC plane up to ~4 kpc toward the SMC, suggesting that it originated from a strong interaction with the SMC. In addition, the inner disk encompassing the off-centered bar appears to be tilted up to 5-15 degrees relative to the rest of the LMC disk. These findings on the outer warp and the tilted bar are consistent with the predictions from the Besla et al. simulation of a recent direct collision with the SMC.

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SMASHing THE LMC: Mapping a Ring-like Stellar Overdensity in the LMC Disk

We explore the stellar structure of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) disk using data from the Survey of the MAgellanic Stellar History (SMASH) and the Dark Energy Survey. We detect a ring-like stellar overdensity in the red clump star count map at a radius of ~6 degrees (~5.2 kpc at the LMC distance) that is continuous over ~270 degrees in position angle and is only limited by the current data coverage. The overdensity shows an amplitude up to 2.5 times higher than that of the underlying smooth disk. This structure might be related to the multiple arms found by de Vaucouleurs. We find that the overdensity shows spatial correlation with intermediate-age star clusters, but not with young (< 1 Gyr) main-sequence stars, indicating the stellar populations associated with the overdensity are intermediate in age or older. Our findings on the LMC overdensity can be explained by either of two distinct formation mechanisms of a ring-like overdensity: (1) the overdensity formed out of an asymmetric one-armed spiral wrapping around the LMC main body, which is induced by repeated encounters with the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) over the last Gyr, or (2) the overdensity formed very recently as a tidal response to a direct collision with the SMC. Although the measured properties of the overdensity alone cannot distinguish between the two candidate scenarios, the consistency with both scenarios suggests that the ring-like overdensity is likely a product of tidal interaction with the SMC, but not with the Milky Way halo.

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The Spatially Resolved Dust-to-Metals Ratio in M101

The dust-to-metals ratio describes the fraction of the heavy elements contained in dust grains, and its variation provides key insights into the life cycle of dust. We measure the dust-to-metals ratio in M101, a nearby galaxy with a radial metallicity (Z) gradient spanning $\sim$1 dex. We fit the dust spectral energy distribution from 100 to 500 $μm$ with five variants of the modified blackbody dust emission model in which we vary the temperature distribution and how emissivity depends on wavelength. Among them, the model with a single temperature blackbody modified by a broken power-law emissivity gives the statistically best fit and physically most plausible results. Using these results, we show that the dust-to-gas ratio is proportional to $\rm Z^{1.7}$. This implies that the dust-to-metals ratio is not constant in M101, but decreases as a function of radius, equivalent to a lower fraction of metals trapped in dust at low metallicity (large radius). The dust-to-metals ratio in M101 remains at or above what would be predicted by the minimum depletion level of metals observed in the Milky Way. Our current knowledge of metallicity-dependent CO-to-H$_2$ conversion factor suggests that variations in the conversion factor cannot be responsible for the dust-to-metals ratio trends we observe. This change of dust-to-metals ratio is significantly correlated with molecular hydrogen fraction, which suggests that the accretion of gas phase metals onto existing dust grains could be a mechanism contributing to a variable dust-to-metals ratio.

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On The Nature of Variations in the Measured Star Formation Efficiency of Molecular Clouds

Measurements of the star formation efficiency (SFE) of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) in the Milky Way generally show a large scatter, which could be intrinsic or observational. We use magnetohydrodynamic simulations of GMCs (including feedback) to forward-model the relationship between the true GMC SFE and observational proxies. We show that individual GMCs trace broad ranges of observed SFE throughout collapse, star formation, and disruption. Low measured SFEs (<<1%) are "real" but correspond to early stages, the true "per-freefall" SFE where most stars actually form can be much larger. Very high (>>10%) values are often artificially enhanced by rapid gas dispersal. Simulations including stellar feedback reproduce observed GMC-scale SFEs, but simulations without feedback produce 20x larger SFEs. Radiative feedback dominates among mechanisms simulated. An anticorrelation of SFE with cloud mass is shown to be an observational artifact. We also explore individual dense "clumps" within GMCs and show that (with feedback) their bulk properties agree well with observations. Predicted SFEs within the dense clumps are ~2x larger than observed, possibly indicating physics other than feedback from massive (main sequence) stars is needed to regulate their collapse.

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SMASH - Survey of the MAgellanic Stellar History

The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC) are unique local laboratories for studying the formation and evolution of small galaxies in exquisite detail. The Survey of the MAgellanic Stellar History (SMASH) is an NOAO community DECam survey of the Clouds mapping 480 square degrees (distributed over ~2400 square degrees at ~20% filling factor) to ~24th mag in ugriz with the goal of identifying broadly distributed, low surface brightness stellar populations associated with the stellar halos and tidal debris of the Clouds. SMASH will also derive spatially-resolved star formation histories covering all ages out to large radii from the MCs that will further complement our understanding of their formation. Here, we present a summary of the survey, its data reduction, and a description of the first public Data Release (DR1). The SMASH DECam data have been reduced with a combination of the NOAO Community Pipeline, PHOTRED, an automated PSF photometry pipeline based mainly on the DAOPHOT suite, and custom calibration software. The attained astrometric precision is ~15 mas and the accuracy is ~2 mas with respect to the Gaia DR1 astrometric reference frame. The photometric precision is ~0.5-0.7% in griz and ~1% in u with a calibration accuracy of ~1.3% in all bands. The median 5 sigma point source depths in ugriz bands are 23.9, 24.8, 24.5, 24.2, 23.5 mag. The SMASH data already have been used to discover the Hydra II Milky Way satellite, the SMASH 1 old globular cluster likely associated with the LMC, and very extended stellar populations around the LMC out to R~18.4 kpc. SMASH DR1 contains measurements of ~100 million objects distributed in 61 fields. A prototype version of the NOAO Data Lab provides data access, including a data discovery tool, SMASH database access, an image cutout service, and a Jupyter notebook server with example notebooks for exploratory analysis.

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The Small Magellanic Cloud Investigation of Dust and Gas Evolution (SMIDGE): The Dust Extinction Curve from Red Clump Stars

We use Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations of red clump stars taken as part of the Small Magellanic Cloud Investigation of Dust and Gas Evolution (SMIDGE) program to measure the average dust extinction curve in a ~ 200 pc x 100 pc region in the southwest bar of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The rich information provided by our 8-band ultra-violet through near-infrared photometry allows us to model the color-magnitude diagram of the red clump accounting for the extinction curve shape, a log-normal distribution of $A_{V}$, and the depth of the stellar distribution along the line of sight. We measure an extinction curve with $R_{475} = A_{475}/(A_{475}-A_{814})$ = 2.65 $\pm$ 0.11. This measurement is significantly larger than the equivalent values of published Milky Way $R_{V}$ = 3.1 ($R_{475} = 1.83$) and SMC Bar $R_{V}$ = 2.74 ($R_{475} = 1.86$) extinction curves. Similar extinction curve offsets in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) have been interpreted as the effect of large dust grains. We demonstrate that the line-of-sight depth of the SMC (and LMC) introduces an apparent "gray" contribution to the extinction curve inferred from the morphology of the red clump. We show that no gray dust component is needed to explain extinction curve measurements when a full-width half-max depth of 10 $\pm$ 2 kpc in the stellar distribution of the SMC (5 $\pm$ 1 kpc for the LMC) is considered, which agrees with recent studies of Magellanic Cloud stellar structure. The results of our work demonstrate the power of broad-band HST imaging for simultaneously constraining dust and galactic structure outside the Milky Way.

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A New Approach to Convective Core Overshooting: Probabilistic Constraints from Color-Magnitude Diagrams of LMC Clusters

We present a framework to simultaneously constrain the values and uncertainties of the strength of convective core overshooting, metallicity, extinction, distance, and age in stellar populations. We then apply the framework to archival Hubble Space Telescope observations of six stellar clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud that have reported ages between ~1-2.5 Gyr. Assuming a canonical value of the strength of core convective overshooting, we recover the well-known age-metallicity correlation, and additional correlations between metallicity and extinction and metallicity and distance. If we allow the strength of core overshooting to vary, we find that for intermediate-aged stellar clusters, the measured values of distance and extinction are negligibly effected by uncertainties of core overshooting strength. However, cluster age and metallicity may have disconcertingly large systematic shifts when core overshooting strength is allowed to vary by more than +/- 0.05 Hp. Using the six stellar clusters, we combine their posterior distribution functions to obtain the most probable core overshooting value, 0.500 +0.016 -0.134 Hp, which is in line with canonical values.

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Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury XVIII. The High-mass Truncation of the Star Cluster Mass Function

We measure the mass function for a sample of 840 young star clusters with ages between 10-300 Myr observed by the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) survey in M31. The data show clear evidence of a high-mass truncation: only 15 clusters more massive than $10^4$ $M_{\odot}$ are observed, compared to $\sim$100 expected for a canonical $M^{-2}$ pure power-law mass function with the same total number of clusters above the catalog completeness limit. Adopting a Schechter function parameterization, we fit a characteristic truncation mass of $M_c = 8.5^{+2.8}_{-1.8} \times 10^3$ $M_{\odot}$. While previous studies have measured cluster mass function truncations, the characteristic truncation mass we measure is the lowest ever reported. Combining this M31 measurement with previous results, we find that the cluster mass function truncation correlates strongly with the characteristic star formation rate surface density of the host galaxy, where $M_c \propto$ $\langle Σ_{\mathrm{SFR}} \rangle^{\sim1.1}$. We also find evidence that suggests the observed $M_c$-$Σ_{\mathrm{SFR}}$ relation also applies to globular clusters, linking the two populations via a common formation pathway. If so, globular cluster mass functions could be useful tools for constraining the star formation properties of their progenitor host galaxies in the early Universe.

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DDO216-A1: a central globular cluster in a low-luminosity transition type galaxy

We confirm that the object DDO216-A1 is a substantial globular cluster at the center of Local Group galaxy DDO216 (the Pegasus dwarf irregular), using Hubble Space Telescope ACS imaging. By fitting isochrones, we find the cluster metallicity to be [M/H] = -1.6 +/-0.2, for reddening E(B-V) = 0.16 +/-0.02; the best-fit age is 12.3 +/-0.8 Gyr. There are ~30 RR Lyrae variables in the cluster; the magnitude of the fundamental mode pulsators gives a distance modulus of 24.77 +/-0.08 - identical to the host galaxy. The ratio of overtone to fundamental mode variables and their mean periods make DDO216-A1 an Oosterhoff Type I cluster. We find an I-band central surface brightness 20.85 +/-0.17 F814W mag per square arcsecond, a half-light radius of 3.1 arcsec (13.4 pc), and an absolute magnitude M814 = -7.90 +/-0.16 (approximately 10^5 solar masses). King models fit to the cluster give the core radius and concentration index, r_c = 2.1" +/-0.9" and c = 1.24 +/-0.39. The cluster is an "extended" cluster somewhat typical of some dwarf galaxies and the outer halo of the Milky Way. The cluster is projected <30 pc south of the center of DDO216, unusually central compared to most dwarf galaxy globular clusters. Analytical models of dynamical friction and tidal destruction suggest that it probably formed at a larger distance, up to ~1 kpc, and migrated inward. DDO216 has an unexceptional cluster specific frequency, S_N = 10. DDO216 is the lowest-luminosity Local Group galaxy to host a 10^5 solar mass globular cluster, and the only transition-type (dSph/dIrr) in the Local Group with a globular.

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Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury XVI. Star Cluster Formation Efficiency and the Clustered Fraction of Young Stars

We use the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) survey dataset to perform spatially resolved measurements of star cluster formation efficiency ($Γ$), the fraction of stellar mass formed in long-lived star clusters. We use robust star formation history and cluster parameter constraints, obtained through color-magnitude diagram analysis of resolved stellar populations, to study Andromeda's cluster and field populations over the last $\sim$300 Myr. We measure $Γ$ of 4-8% for young, 10-100 Myr old populations in M31. We find that cluster formation efficiency varies systematically across the M31 disk, consistent with variations in mid-plane pressure. These $Γ$ measurements expand the range of well-studied galactic environments, providing precise constraints in an HI-dominated, low intensity star formation environment. Spatially resolved results from M31 are broadly consistent with previous trends observed on galaxy-integrated scales, where $Γ$ increases with increasing star formation rate surface density ($Σ_{\mathrm{SFR}}$). However, we can explain observed scatter in the relation and attain better agreement between observations and theoretical models if we account for environmental variations in gas depletion time ($τ_{\mathrm{dep}}$) when modeling $Γ$, accounting for the qualitative shift in star formation behavior when transitioning from a H$_2$-dominated to a HI-dominated interstellar medium. We also demonstrate that $Γ$ measurements in high $Σ_{\mathrm{SFR}}$ starburst systems are well-explained by $τ_{\mathrm{dep}}$-dependent fiducial $Γ$ models.

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Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury. XIV. The Period-Age Relationship of Cepheid Variables in M31 Star Clusters

We present a sample of 11 M31 Cepheids in stellar clusters, derived from the overlap of the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) cluster catalog and the Pan-STARRS1 (PS1) disk Cepheid catalog. After identifying the PS1 Cepheids in the HST catalog, we calibrate the PS1 mean magnitudes using the higher resolution HST photometry, revealing up to 1 magnitude offsets due to crowding effects in the ground-based catalog. We measure ages of the clusters by performing single stellar population fits to their color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) excluding their Cepheids. From these cluster age measurements, we derive an empirical period-age relation which agrees well with the existing literature values. By confirming this relation for M31 Cepheids, we justify its application in high-precision pointwise age estimation across M31.

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The High-Mass Stellar Initial Mass Function in M31 Clusters

We have undertaken the largest systematic study of the high-mass stellar initial mass function (IMF) to date using the optical color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of 85 resolved, young (4 Myr < t < 25 Myr), intermediate mass star clusters (10^3-10^4 Msun), observed as part of the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) program. We fit each cluster's CMD to measure its mass function (MF) slope for stars >2 Msun. For the ensemble of clusters, the distribution of stellar MF slopes is best described by $Γ=+1.45^{+0.03}_{-0.06}$ with a very small intrinsic scatter. The data also imply no significant dependencies of the MF slope on cluster age, mass, and size, providing direct observational evidence that the measured MF represents the IMF. This analysis implies that the high-mass IMF slope in M31 clusters is universal with a slope ($Γ=+1.45^{+0.03}_{-0.06}$) that is steeper than the canonical Kroupa (+1.30) and Salpeter (+1.35) values. Using our inference model on select Milky Way (MW) and LMC high-mass IMF studies from the literature, we find $Γ_{\rm MW} \sim+1.15\pm0.1$ and $Γ_{\rm LMC} \sim+1.3\pm0.1$, both with intrinsic scatter of ~0.3-0.4 dex. Thus, while the high-mass IMF in the Local Group may be universal, systematics in literature IMF studies preclude any definitive conclusions; homogenous investigations of the high-mass IMF in the local universe are needed to overcome this limitation. Consequently, the present study represents the most robust measurement of the high-mass IMF slope to date. We have grafted the M31 high-mass IMF slope onto widely used sub-solar mass Kroupa and Chabrier IMFs and show that commonly used UV- and Halpha-based star formation rates should be increased by a factor of ~1.3-1.5 and the number of stars with masses >8 Msun are ~25% fewer than expected for a Salpeter/Kroupa IMF. [abridged]

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PHAT Stellar Cluster Survey. II. Andromeda Project Cluster Catalog

We construct a stellar cluster catalog for the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) survey using image classifications collected from the Andromeda Project citizen science website. We identify 2,753 clusters and 2,270 background galaxies within ~0.5 deg$^2$ of PHAT imaging searched, or ~400 kpc$^2$ in deprojected area at the distance of the Andromeda galaxy (M31). These identifications result from 1.82 million classifications of ~20,000 individual images (totaling ~7 gigapixels) by tens of thousands of volunteers. We show that our crowd-sourced approach, which collects >80 classifications per image, provides a robust, repeatable method of cluster identification. The high spatial resolution Hubble Space Telescope images resolve individual stars in each cluster and are instrumental in the factor of ~6 increase in the number of clusters known within the survey footprint. We measure integrated photometry in six filter passbands, ranging from the near-UV to the near-IR. PHAT clusters span a range of ~8 magnitudes in F475W (g-band) luminosity, equivalent to ~4 decades in cluster mass. We perform catalog completeness analysis using >3000 synthetic cluster simulations to determine robust detection limits and demonstrate that the catalog is 50% complete down to ~500 solar masses for ages <100 Myr. We include catalogs of clusters, background galaxies, remaining unselected candidates, and synthetic cluster simulations, making all information publicly available to the community. The catalog published here serves as the definitive base data product for PHAT cluster science, providing a census of star clusters in an L$^*$ spiral galaxy with unmatched sensitivity and quality.

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