Generation of Synthetic Color-Magnitude Diagrams for Protoclusters

The color-magnitude diagram (CMD) is a type of Hertzsprung-Russell (H-R) diagram, which charts stellar populations by plotting stars’ brightness in magnitudes versus their color index, from which we can extract information about the formation and evolution of stars and stellar populations. In this paper, I present Python code that I have implemented which reads data from Nbody6 protocluster simulations and interfaces with a software package called Stellar Population Interface for Stellar Evolution and Atmospheres (SPISEA), to calculate photometric values and generate a synthetic CMD. Using the generated CMDs, I also present a study of the effects of age spread within a simulated star cluster on the spread of magnitude brightness of the stellar population, and how these effects are seen in the CMD.

Bachelor of Arts in Astronomy

Advisor: Jonathan Tan