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Far-Ultraviolet and Visible Imaging of the Nucleus of M32

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-16, 19:29 authored by Andrew ColeAndrew Cole, Gallagher, JS, Mould, JR, Clarke, JT, Trauger, JT, Watson, AM, Ballester, GE, Burrows, CJ, Casertano, S, Crisp, D, Griffiths, RE, Grillmair, CJ, Hester, JJ, Hoessel, JG, Holtzman, JA, Scowen, PA, Stapelfeldt, KR, Westphal, JR
We have imaged the nucleus of M32 at 1600 Å (FUV) and 5500 Å (V) using the Wide-Field/Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. We detected the nucleus at 1600 A using the redleak-free Woods filter on WFPC2. The far-ultraviolet (FUV) light profile can be fitted with a Gaussian of FWHM 0″.46 (4.6 pixels) but cannot be resolved into individual stars; no UV-bright nuclear structure was detected. The (FUV -V) color of the nucleus is 4.9 ± 0.3, which is consistent with earlier observations. We are unable to confirm any radial variation in (FUV -V) within 0″.8 of the nucleus; beyond that radius the FUV surface brightness drops below our detection threshold. We also performed surface photometry in V and found our results to be in excellent agreement with deconvolved WFPC1 results. M32's light profile continues to rise in a nuclear cusp even within 0″.1 of its center. No intermediate-age stellar population is required by evolutionary population synthesis models to reproduce the (FUV -V) color of the nucleus, although these data and current models are insufficient to resolve this issue. © 1998. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

History

Publication title

The Astrophysical Journal

Volume

505

Pagination

230-235

ISSN

0004-637X

Department/School

School of Natural Sciences

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Place of publication

Chicago, USA

Repository Status

  • Restricted

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Expanding knowledge in the physical sciences

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