The Mass Function of Young Star Clusters in The Antennae
نویسنده
چکیده
The Antennae is a pair of late type spirals in the course of merging. The interaction triggered an ongoing strong burst of star formation that also produced a large number of Young Star Clusters (YSCs), many of which seem to be young Globular Clusters (GCs). The observed Luminosity Function of the YSC system is a power-law. We use evolutionary synthesis models for star clusters in comparison with HST WFPC observations of the YSC system in the Antennae to analyse the mass function of this ∼ 2 · 10 8 yr young star cluster system. Properly accounting for age spread effects by individually age-dating the YSCs we find that the intrinsic Mass Function (MF) is log-normal in shape and in intriguing agreement with the MF of old GC systems. We discuss this MF in the context of cluster formation and dynamical effects in the tidal field of the parent galaxy and speculate about its future evolution.
منابع مشابه
The Mass Function of Young Star Clusters in the "Antennae" Galaxies.
We determine the mass function of young star clusters in the merging galaxies known as the "Antennae" (NGC 4038/9) from deep images taken with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on the refurbished Hubble Space Telescope. This is accomplished by means of reddening-free parameters and a comparison with stellar population synthesis tracks to estimate the intrinsic luminosity and age, and hence the ...
متن کاملScaling relations in dynamical evolution of star clusters
We have carried out a series of small scale collisional N-body calculations of single-mass star clusters to investigate the dependence of the lifetime of star clusters on their initial parameters. Our models move through an external galaxy potential with a logarithmic density profile and they are limited by a cut-off radius. In order to find scaling relations between the lifetime of star cluste...
متن کاملThe Mass Function of Super Giant Molecular Complexes and Implications for Forming Young Massive Star Clusters in the Antennae (NGC 4038/39)
We have used previously published observations of the CO emission from the Antennae (NGC 4038/39) to study the detailed properties of the super giant molecular complexes with the goal of understanding the formation of young massive star clusters. Over a mass range from 5× 10 to 9× 10 M⊙, the molecular complexes follow a power-law mass function with a slope of −1.4± 0.1, which is very similar to...
متن کاملYoung Massive Clusters - Formation Efficiencies and (Initial) Mass Functions
Globular clusters are often assumed to be good tracers of major star formation episodes in their host galaxies. While observations over the past 2 decades have confirmed the presence of young objects with globular cluster-like properties in many galaxies, it is still not well understood exactly how the formation efficiency of bound star clusters relative to field stars and their mass spectrum d...
متن کاملSuper–star Cluster Velocity Dispersions and Virial Masses in the M82 Nuclear Starburst
We use high-resolution near-infrared spectroscopy from Keck Observatory to measure the stellar velocity dispersions of 19 super star clusters (SSCs) in the nuclear starburst of M82. The clusters have ages on the order of 10 Myr, which is many times longer than the crossing times implied by their velocity dispersions and radii. We therefore apply the Virial Theorem to derive the kinematic mass f...
متن کامل