Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2008-04-14
Astrophys.Space Sci.324:183-186,2009
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
3 pages, 1 figure, to appear in "Young Massive Star Clusters - Initial Conditions and Environment", 2008, Astrophysics and Spa
Scientific paper
10.1007/s10509-009-0125-4
The analysis of the age distributions of star cluster samples of different galaxies has resulted in two very different empirical models for the dissolution of star clusters: the Baltimore model and the Utrecht model. I describe these two models and their differences. The Baltimore model implies that the dissolution of star clusters is mass independent and that about 90% of the clusters are destroyed each age dex, up to an age of about a Gyr, after which point mass-dependent dissolution from two-body relaxation becomes the dominant mechanism. In the Utrecht model, cluster dissolution occurs in three stages: (i) mass-independent infant mortality due to the expulsion of gas up to about 10 Myr; (ii) a phase of slow dynamical evolution with strong evolutionary fading of the clusters lasting up to about a Gyr; and (iii) a phase dominated by mass dependent-dissolution, as predicted by dynamical models. I describe the cluster age distributions for mass-limited and magnitude-limited cluster samples for both models. I refrain from judging the correctness of these models.
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