Fundamental properties of star clusters of the Milky Way and of the Small Magellanic Cloud derived by means of integrated spectroscopy

A.V. AHUMADA, J.J. CLARIÁ Y E. BICA

Capilla del Monte, Córdoba

Congreso; 49º Reunión Anual de la Asociación Argentina de Astronomía; 2006

Observatorio Astronómico de la Univ. Nac. de Córdoba

We present integrated spectra mostly obtained at the CASLEO(Argentina) in the range 3600-7000 A for 42 galactic open clusterswithin a wide age range. These data have been combined with existingcluster spectra to create a new base of template spectra. Such a base hasa good temporal resolution and may be used for future determinations offundamental astrophysical parameters of galactic and extra-galactic stellarsystems. This new library represents the integrated spectral evolutionof star clusters with typically solar metallicity, from those very young objectsassociated with gas emission to those clusters as old as a few Gyr.Integrated spectra for a sample of 24 star clusters of the Small MagellanicCloud (SMC) are also presented, which will be very useful for integratedstudies in distant galaxies with metallicities similar to those of the SMCclusters. E(B-V) colour excesses, ages and in some cases metallicities aswell were determined for all the observed clusters, which allowed us tobroaden the current knowledge of the star cluster systems both in theMilky Way (MW) and in the SMC.