Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Mar 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007pabei..25...13z&link_type=abstract
Progress in Astronomy (ISSN 1000-8349), Vol. 25, No. 1, p. 13 - 21 (2007)
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Astrophysics, Star Cluster, Massive Young Cluster, Super Star Cluster, Milky Way Galaxy, Galaxy, Astrophysics, Review, Star Clusters, Massive Young Clusters, Super Star Clusters, Milky Way
Scientific paper
As astronomical observational technologies have been developing, more and more massive young clusters (MYC) and super star clusters (SSC) in different galaxies including normal ones, starburst ones and mergers have been found, some properties of which are different from either open or globular clusters in the Galaxy, mainly their ages being significantly younger than those of globular ones in the Milky Way galaxy on one side and they being obviously more massive than open ones on the other side. Up to now, at least one SSC has been found in our own galaxy. The main observational characteristics of MYCs or SSCs are as follows: 1) They are young and massive star clusters. Usually their ages are several million years, the oldest ones of which are not over a few hundred million years, their masses are 3 × 104 - 107 Msolar, and the range of their effective radii is a few parsecs to 20 pc, even a bit bigger. 2) The distribution of MYCs in host galaxies is quite different from one galaxy to another. In some galaxies most of MYCs are close to the galactic centers, and in other galaxies they have been observed at places far from the centers. 3) A bright compact nucleus can be easily observed in some MYCs and there is no obvious nucleus for other MYCs. 4) The numbers of MYCs in different galaxies are of significant difference, from zero to a few dozens, even more than 100. 5) The distribution in ages is quite smooth for spiral galaxies, being no more the case of star burst galaxies, in which MYCs are apparently formed in a relative short period. The formation efficiency of MYCs is in close relationship with star formation rate (SFR) for both, normal galaxies and interacting ones, and the higher the SFR, the higher the formation efficiency of such clusters. So far as the evolutionary significance of MYCs is concerned, MYCs, at least some of them, are possible precursor objects of globular star clusters for some reasons, which can be used to explain the origin of globular clusters. Since observational data for MYCs or SSCs in galaxies are limited by now, some important problems for such clusters remain to be further studied and solved, such as what is the intrinsic relationship between the SFR and the formation efficiency of MYCs, is there some relationship between the formation and evolution of MYCs and their host galaxies, and whether can MYCs exist for long enough time to be finally evolved to form globular clusters?
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