STScI Preprint #1352

Age-Dating of Young Stars and Stellar Systems

This review addresses properties and unresolved issues of stellar systems whose ages are young in comparison with a Hubble time. In most cases, the energy production in such systems is determined by massive, short-lived stars. These stars track the most recent star-formation history in stellar clusters and galaxies. Due to their intrinsic brightness, even relatively few such stars are observable at cosmological distances. I discuss the current state of our understanding of massive stars and how uncertainties affect the interpretation of young stellar systems and galaxies.

Status:

Appeared in: The proceedings of Spectrophotometric Dating of Stars and Galaxies, held 25-29 April 1999 in Annapolis, MD.

Affiliations:

Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218