The stellar mass spectrum in the young populous cluster NGC 1866

The young populous cluster NGC 1866 in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), which is probably one of the most massive objects formed in the LMC during the last similar to 3 Gyr, appears to have an unexpectedly high mass-to-light ratio. From its velocity dispersion Fischer and coworkers find its mass to be (1.35 +/- 0.25) x 10(5) M.. The luminosity of this cluster is M-v = - 8.93 +/- 0.13, corresponding to L-v = (3.2 +/- 0.4) x 10(5) L-v,L-.. This yields M/L-v = 0.42 +/- 0.09 in solar units. For a cluster of age 0.1 Gyr, such a relatively high mass-to-light ratio requires a mass spectrum with an exponent x = 1.72 +/- 0.09, or x = 1.75 +/- 0.09 if mass loss by evolving stars is taken into account.