Computer Science
Scientific paper
Jul 2003
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003hst..prop.9783b&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #9783
Computer Science
Hst Proposal Id #9783 Galaxies
Scientific paper
We propose to obtain STIS G430L spectra of the previously identified nuclear star cluster in a sample of 16 spiral galaxies of early to intermediate Hubble type. HST's spatial resolution is required to separate the nuclear cluster from the underlying galaxy bulge. Analysis of the spectra with population synthesis methods will reveal the cluster ages. We will use the age distribution to constrain the duty cycle of nuclear cluster formation. Comparison of the results to those for a larger sample of nuclear clusters in late-type, bulgeless galaxies will allow us to investigate possible differences between the formation mechanisms of nuclear clusters in early and late Hubble types. Such differences might be expected because galaxy bulges show a dichotomy: in late Hubble types, the surface brightness profiles are best described by an exponential, while they follow a de Vaucouleurs law in earlier types. Although the reason for this dichotomy is still unknown, it is plausible that galaxy bulges have different formation mechanisms at the two ends of the Hubble sequence. We know that {1} nuclear cluster formation is linked to the funneling of gas towards the nucleus via gravitational torques from stellar bars, {2} a nuclear mass concentration can make bars unstable, and {3} unstable bars can form bulges. Therefore, the age distribution of nuclear star clusters contains important clues to the evolution of galaxy centers and promises new insight into the origin of the Hubble sequence.
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