The Very Young Starburst Merger System NGC 1741

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Abstract
We use Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Faint Object Camera (FOC) ultraviolet (UV) and WFPC2 optical images in conjunction with UV spectroscopic observations taken with the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph to examine the star formation history and properties of the interacting galaxy system NGC 1741 in the Hickson Compact Group 31. The high spatial resolution afforded by HST has allowed us to identify a large number of starburst knots, or "super–star clusters" (SSCs), in the starburst regions of this system. Photometry of these SSCs in the UV and optical bands indicates that most of these objects have ages of a few Myr, with a few up to ≈100 Myr, and masses between 104 and 106 M⊙. The estimated age is confirmed by a spectral synthesis analysis of one knot for which we have obtained a UV spectrum. The V-band luminosity function of the SSCs is well represented by a power law (L) ~ L-α with an index of -1.85, with no evidence of a turnover brighter than the completeness limit. These properties are in good agreement with those found for SSCs in other starburst galaxies. Our results support the suggestion that some of these SSCs may be extremely young globular clusters formed in a relatively recent starburst episode that has been triggered by a merger event.