Goodwin, S.P. and Bastian, N. (2006) Gas expulsion and the destruction of massive young clusters. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 373 (2). pp. 752-758. ISSN 0035-8711
Abstract
We examine the luminosity and dynamical mass estimates for young massive stellar clusters. For many young (<50 Myr) clusters, the luminosity and dynamical mass estimates differ by a significant amount. We explain this as being due to many young clusters being out of virial equilibrium (which is assumed in dynamical mass estimates) because the clusters are undergoing violent relaxation after expelling gas not used in star formation. We show that, if we assume that luminous mass estimates are correct (for a standard initial mass function), at least 50 per cent of young clusters for which dynamical masses are known are likely to be destroyed within a few tens of Myr of their formation. Even clusters which will retain a bound core may lose a large fraction of their stellar mass. We also show that the core radius and other structural parameters change significantly during the violent relaxation that follows gas expulsion and that they should be considered instantaneous values only, not necessarily reflecting the final state of the cluster. In particular we note that the increasing core radii observed in young LMC/SMC clusters can be well explained as an effect of rapid gas loss.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2006 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. |
Keywords: | stellar dynamics; methods : N-body simulations; galaxies : star clusters |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Physics and Astronomy (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 16 Feb 2018 14:30 |
Last Modified: | 16 Feb 2018 14:30 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.11078.x |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.11078.x |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:127509 |