ABSTRACT. Surface brightness profiles for 23 M31 star clusters were measured using images from the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on the Hubble Space Telescope, and fitted to two types of models to determine the clusters' structural properties. The clusters are primarily young (~10⁸ yr) and massive (~10^4.5 M ), with median half-light radius 7 pc and dissolution times of a few Gyr. The properties of the M31 clusters are comparable to those of clusters of similar age in the Magellanic Clouds. Simulated star clusters are used to derive a conversion from statistical measures of cluster size to half-light radius so that the extragalactic clusters can be compared to young massive clusters in the Milky Way. All three sets of star clusters fall approximately on the same age-size relation. The young M31 clusters are expected to dissolve within a few Gyr and will not survive to become old, globular clusters. However, they do appear to follow the same fundamental plane (FP) relations as old clusters; if confirmed with velocity dispersion measurements, this would be a strong indication that the star cluster FP reflects universal cluster formation conditions.

Key words: galaxies: individual (Messier: Number M31); galaxies: star clusters; globular clusters: general

^* Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. These observations are associated with program GO-10818 (PI: J. Cohen) and GO-8296 (PI: P. Hodge).

Print publication: Issue 6 (2009 December)
Received 2009 July 31, accepted for publication 2009 September 15
Published 2009 October 30