The Stellar Population in the Galactic Center: Insights from the Spitzer Space Telescope

Abstract

The SpitzerIRAC observations (Stolovy et al., these proceedings) of the central 265 pc × 210 pc provide an opportunity to study the relationships between massive stars, gas, and dust in the Galactic Center at unprecedented resolution. The observations are inclusive of the three known extremely dense clusters of massive hot young stars which ionize the unusual thermal filaments seen at both radio wavelengths and in PAH emission in the IRAC images. Here we explore the effects of the massive stars, particularly in regions including the Quintuplet and Arches clusters, on the nearby diffuse ISM emission (see also Simpson et al. these proceedings). We discuss the diagnostics available using the IRAC colors, and what these show us in regards to known massive stars. Finally, we discuss the 1-8 μm SEDs which are currently under construction, and the preliminary results using a novel SED fitting program to determine the stellar type and extinction to all available point sources in the survey region.