Matt Povich (Penn State)

The Chandra Carina Complex Project: A Spatially Resolved X-ray and Mid-Infrared Study of the Nearest Galactic Starburst Region

The Chandra Carina Complex Project (CCCP) surveyed a 1.42 square degree field encompassing the heart of the Great Nebula in Carina. First results from analysis of this remarkable X-ray dataset and complementary multiwavelength observations have recently been published in a Special Issue of The Astrophysical Journal Supplement (all 16 CCCP papers are available at http://cochise.astro.psu.edu/Carina_public/special_issue.html). In this talk, I will highlight the powerful combination of the CCCP and mid-IR data from the Spitzer Space Telescope for spatially-resolved studies of the young stellar population. These observations reveal the global star formation history in the Carina Complex, the nearest analog of extragalactic starburst regions. I will discuss the discrepancy between the Carina star formation rate derived from star counts and the predictions of extragalactic calibrations of star formation rate versus mid-IR luminosity.