In order to empirically determine the timescale and environmental dependence of stellar cluster disruption , we have undertaken an analysis of the unprecedented multi-pointing ( seven ) , multi-wavelength ( U , B , V , H \alpha , and I ) Hubble Space Telescope imaging survey of the nearby , face-on spiral galaxy M83 .
The images are used to locate stellar clusters and stellar associations throughout the galaxy .
Estimation of cluster properties ( age , mass , and extinction ) was done through a comparison of their spectral energy distributions with simple stellar population models .
We constructed the largest catalog of stellar clusters and associations in this galaxy to-date , with \sim 1800 sources with masses above \sim 5000 M _ { \odot } and ages younger than \sim 300 Myr .
In the present letter , we focus on the age distribution of the resulting clusters and associations .
In particular , we explicitly test whether the age distributions are related with the ambient environment .
Our results are in excellent agreement with previous studies of age distributions in the centre of the galaxy , which gives us confidence to expand out to search for similarities or differences in the other fields which sample different environments .
We find that the age distribution of the clusters inside M83 varies strongly as a function of position within the galaxy , indicating a strong correlation with the galactic environment .
If the age distributions are approximated as a power-law of the form \hbox { $ \frac { d { N } } { dt } $ } \propto t ^ { \zeta } , we find \zeta values between 0 and -0.62 ( \zeta \sim - 0.40 for the whole galaxy ) , in good agreement with previous results and theoretical predictions .