Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Dec 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009ap%26ss.324..163w&link_type=abstract
Astrophysics and Space Science, Volume 324, Issue 2-4, pp. 163-169
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
1
Star Clusters
Scientific paper
We report on the development of a framework for understanding the demographics of star cluster systems. The model incorporates a universal initial power-law mass function, selected formation histories, selected disruption laws, and a convolution with common artifacts and selection effects found in observational data. An important component of our model is the use of a ‘two-stage’ disruption process, with a very high ‘infant mortality’ rate for the clusters with ages less than ≈108 yr (i.e., roughly 80 to 90% are lost each factor of ten in time, τ, independent of mass), and two-body relaxation, which becomes the dominant disruption mechanism at older ages, preferentially removing the lower-mass clusters. Stars from the dissolved clusters form the field population, and hence the galaxies themselves. We also report on efforts to distinguish stars from clusters in the Antennae galaxies, allowing us to show that the power-law luminosity function for star clusters extends roughly three magnitudes fainter than previously demonstrated, contrary to reports that there is a turnover. Finally, we briefly show that, while triggered star formation in several regions of the Antennae is relatively mild (i.e., producing roughly 10% as many stars as in the previous generation), in some regions there can be an amplification of a factor of four or more.
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