Young Massive Star Clusters - ubiquitous or exotic?

Mathematics – Logic

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Scientific paper

Using ground-based UBVRI CCD photometry, we have surveyed 21 nearby spiral galaxies in order to look for young massive star clusters (YMCs). We find that a large variety exists concerning the richness of the cluster systems, ranging from galaxies with practically no YMCs at all (e.g. NGC 300, NGC 45) to very rich cluster populations (NGC 1313, NGC 5236). The richness of the cluster systems as measured by the specific U-band luminosity of the clusters relative to that of their host galaxies (T_U) does not appear to be correlated with the morphological type of the host galaxies, but we do find a correlation of T_U with other properties of the host galaxies indicative of the star formation activity, such as the FIR luminosity and the optical surface brightness. These correlations also seem to hold when including literature data for starburst galaxies, indicating that the basic mechanism responsible for the formation of YMCs in ``normal'' galaxies and in starburst/merger galaxies may well be the same. We thus conclude that the formation of YMCs in starburst galaxies merely represents the ``tip of the iceberg'' of a much more general phenomenon that also takes place, although in a more quiescent mode, in a wide range of environments.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Young Massive Star Clusters - ubiquitous or exotic? does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Young Massive Star Clusters - ubiquitous or exotic?, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Young Massive Star Clusters - ubiquitous or exotic? will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1119890

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.