A Morphological Study of UV-Bright Stars and Emission Nebulae in a Selection of Star Formation Regions in M31

Abstract

ABSTRACTUsing the data from the NOAO Local Group Survey, we have measured the Hα fluxes of 291 nebulae associated with 21 of the van den Bergh OB associations. We have combined these data together with six-color HST WFPC2 photometry, in order to identify the most UV-bright stars in the region. The simple purpose of this article is to explore the spatial relationships between these components. We find that there are basically three types of Hα-hot star morphology. One type consists of a very bright H II region, with a tightly spaced group of hot stars at or near its center; we refer to these as monolithic structures. A second common arrangement is that of a ringlike bubble structure with an often-empty central area, where the hot stars are concentrated. We construct simple models of these objects, which show that their photometric profiles are like those of spherical shells. We refer to these as bubble structures A third morphology is a scattered distribution of small nebulae with a few hot stars that are widely spaced; these are called dispersed structures. We suggest that this sequence may be an evolutionary one.