Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Nov 1997
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997mnras.291..717m&link_type=abstract
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 291, p. 717
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
64
Globular Clusters, Milky Way Galaxy, Galactic Evolution, Astronomical Models, Fokker-Planck Equation
Scientific paper
We study the dynamical evolution of disk and halo globular clusters in the Milky Way using a series of Fokker-Planck calculations combined with parametric statistical models. Our sample of 111 clusters with velocity data is predicted to descend from an initial population of 250 clusters, implying more than a factor of two decrease in population size due to evolution. Approximately 200 of these clusters are in a halo component and 50 in a disk component. The estimated initial halo population follows a coreless R 3.38 density profile, in good agreement with current estimates for the distribution of halo field stars. The observed core in the present-day distribution of halo clusters results from the rapid evaporation of clusters in the inner regions of the Galaxy. The initial halo population is also predicted to have a radially biased orbit distribution, in rough agreement with the observed kinematics of halo field stars. The isotropy of the present-day halo cluster distribution results from the evaporation of clusters on elongated orbits. Similarly, the initial disk component has a nearly isotropic initial distribution that becomes more tangentially biased with time.
Murali Chigurupati
Weinberg Martin D.
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