Mass function of star clusters in the nuclear starburst region of NGC 253

We present a photometric study of star clusters in the nuclear starburst region of NGC 253 using gVI, YJ, and H band images in the Hubble Space Telescope archive. We find about one thousand star clusters in about 200"x200" field by visual inspection with I<21. We also find about ten thousand star clusters in the same field by automated classification method with magnitude range of 21< I $$\leq_-$$ 24. Ages and masses of star clusters are estimated using spectral energy distribution fitting method. Age distribution of star cluster shows two distinguished young populations with peak ages at 3.5 Myr and 18 Myr. Old populations (>100 Myr) are exist, but their number is small. About thirty young massive star clusters (<10 Myr, ) are found in nuclear region of NGC 253 which are regarded as a result of the recent starburst. Mass function of young star clusters in NGC 253 is somewhat different with those of star clusters in other galaxies. This result suggests that initial cluster mass functions (ICMFs) for star clusters are not universial. Especially ICMF in starburst galaxies may be distinguishable compared with those in normal spiral galaxies. We discuss the implications of these results.