A Census of the Carina Nebula. I: Cumulative Energy Input from Massive Stars

Abstract

(abridged) The Carina Nebula (NGC 3372) is our richest nearby laboratory in which to study feedback through UV radiation and stellar winds from very massive stars during the formation of an OB association before supernova explosions have influenced the environment. This paper takes inventory of the combined effect from all the known massive stars that power the Carina Nebula. The present-day total ionizing photon luminosity produced by the 65 O stars and 3 WNL stars in Carina is about 1e51/s, the total bolometric luminosity of all stars earlier than B2 is 2.5e7 Lsun, and the total mechanical luminosity of stellar winds is about 1e5 Lsun. The total ionizing flux was about 25 per cent higher when eta Car was on the main sequence, before it and its companion were surrounded by its obscuring dust shell, and when the 3 WNL stars were on the main sequence. For the first 3 Myr, the net ionizing flux of the 70 O-type stars in Carina was about 150 times greater than in the Orion Nebula. About 400-500 Msun has been contributed to the region by stellar wind mass loss during the past 3 Myr. The net ionizing flux and mechanical luminosity are also given for the individual clusters Tr14, 15, and 16, and Bo10 and 11, which are relevant on smaller spatial scales.