2016MNRAS.457.3334G

We present a study of complexes of young massive star clusters (YMCs), embedded in extragalactic giant H ii regions, based on the coupling of spectroscopic with photometric and spectrophotometric observations of about 100 star-forming regions in seven spiral galaxies (NGC 628, NGC 783, NGC 2336, NGC 6217, NGC 6946, NGC 7331, and NGC 7678). The complete observational data base has been observed and accumulated within the framework of our comprehensive study of extragalactic star-forming regions. This paper presents the last part of either unpublished or refreshed photometric and spectrophotometric observations of the galaxies NGC 6217, NGC 6946, NGC 7331, and NGC 7678. We derive extinctions, chemical abundances, continuum, and line emissions of ionized gas, ages, and masses for cluster complexes. We find the YMC complexes to have ages no greater than 10 Myr and masses between 10⁴ M_☉ and 10⁷ M_☉, and the extinctions A_V vary between ∼0 and 3 mag, while the impact of the nebular emission on integrated broad-band photometry mainly is not greater than 40 per cent of the total flux and is comparable with accuracies of dereddened photometric quantities. We also find evidence of differential extinction of stellar and gas emissions in some clusters, which hinders the photometric determination of ages and masses in these cases. Finally, we show that young massive cluster complexes in the studied galaxies and open clusters in the Milky Way form a continuous sequence of luminosities/masses and colour/ages.