Star Formation in R136: A Cluster of O3 Stars Revealed byHubble Space TelescopeSpectroscopy

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Abstract

The R136 cluster in 30 Doradus is the prototype "" super star cluster, and the only example sufficiently close that its massive star content can be studied directly. We have used the Hubble Space Telescope to obtain spectra of 65 of the bluest, most luminous stars in R136 and nd that the majority of these stars are of type O3, the hottest, most luminous, and most massive stars known. The total number of O3 stars in this one cluster exceeds the total number known elsewhere in the Milky Way or Magellanic Clouds. The highest luminosity stars found are O3 If*, O4 If], O3 If/WN6-A, and H-rich WN stars, with masses in excess of 120 the highest masses for which appropriate evolutionary tracks are cur-M _ , rently available. In accord with de Koter, Heap, & Hubeny, we conclude that these WN stars must be core H-burning stars whose spectra are WR-like because of high luminosity, and we nd that their individual luminosities are a factor of 10 higher than is normal for WN stars of similar type but are like those found in the Galactic cluster NGC 3603, which they also resemble spectroscopically. Our spectroscopy does include stars as late as B0 V and samples most stars in the core of the R136 cluster with masses [50

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