Bibcode
Deeg, H. J.; Ninkov, Z.
Bibliographical reference
Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement, v.119, p.221-230
Advertised on:
10
1996
Citations
12
Refereed citations
8
Description
Based on photometry of deep CCD frames of the central region of the OB
cluster Berkeley 86, we derive the cluster mass function. The absence of
current star formation, and the cluster's young age of about 6Myrs,
leads to the conclusion that the initial mass function (IMF) and the
current mass function are identical for stars with
m<10msun_. In the range of 1.2-20msun_, an IMF
with a slope of {GAMMA}=-1.3+/-0.3 is found. This value agrees well with
other recent determinations of young clusters IMFs which are close to
the classical Salpeter IMF with {GAMMA}=-1.35. Sections of the IMF of
Berkeley 86 that are significantly steeper, or flatter, are most likely
the result of a dip in the star's mass distribution in the range of
3.5-10msun_. Similar dips may have led to steep IMFs over
narrow mass ranges, as reported in the literature for some other
clusters. No sign for a low mass turn-over in the IMF of Berkeley 86 is
found for masses extending down to 0.85 msun _.