Program: GS-2020A-FT-202
Title: | Origin of very massive stars around NGC 3603 |
PI: | Venu Kalari |
Co-I(s): | Jorick Vink, Willem-Jan de Wit |
Abstract
The formation of a high-mass star generates a stellar cluster. Whether this is an unavoidable outcome of the formation process is still unclear but certainly not excluded by theory. We propose to scrutinize the apparent isolated nature of a O3If* 100 solar mass star shown by Gaia astrometry (Kalari et al. 2019). Deep JHKs imaging can identify any previously unappreciated stellar overdensities or young clusters surrounding RFS8 (or not). Combined with (ongoing) radial velocity observations, our observations will be telling on the formation scenario of what is currently the best isolated massive star formation candidate, providing crucial evidence for the current debate on massive star formation.