Dense star clusters as the sources of gamma-ray-burst progenitors

Two independent sets of arguments lead us to conclude that the progenitors of superintense bursts (with an energy yield larger than that for ordinary supernovae by one or two orders of magnitude) are born in massive dense star clusters, but generally flare up only after they have left the cluster; these are the same objects that are the progenitors of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Each of the giant stellar arcs which are grouped into multiple systems of stellar complexes in the LMC and NGC 6946 could only be produced by a single powerful energy release near its center. The progenitors of these systems of arc-shaped stellar complexes must have had a common source nearby, and it could only be a massive star cluster. Such clusters are actually known near both systems. On the other hand, calculations of the dynamical evolution of star clusters show that close binary systems of compact objects are formed in the dense central parts of the clusters and are then ejected from them during triple encounters. Mergers of the components of such systems are believed to be responsible for GRBs. Since their progenitors are ejected from the cluster before merging, the arc-shaped stellar complexes produced by GRBs are observed near (but not around) the parent clusters. If a considerable fraction of the GRB progenitors are formed as a result star encounters in massive star clusters, and if the GRBs themselves trigger star formation near the parent clusters, then observations of GRBs in star-forming regions are consistent with their origin during mergers of pairs of compact objects.     

Recurrent gas accretion by massive star clusters, multiple stellar populations and mass thresholds for spheroidal stellar systems

We explore the gravitational influence of pressure-supported stellar systems on the internal density distribution of a gaseous environment. We conclude that compact massive star clusters with masses  ≳10⁶ M_⊙  act as cloud condensation nuclei and are able to accrete gas recurrently from a warm interstellar medium which may cause further star formation events and account for multiple stellar populations in the most massive globular and nuclear star clusters. The same analytical arguments can be used to decide whether an arbitrary spherical stellar system is able to keep warm or hot interstellar material or not. These mass thresholds coincide with transition masses between pressure supported galaxies of different morphological types.     

Star cluster formation and star formation: the role of environment and star-formation efficiencies

By analyzing global starburst properties in various kinds of starburst and post-starburst galaxies and relating them to the properties of the star cluster populations they form, I explore the conditions for the formation of massive, compact, long-lived star clusters. The aim is to determine whether the relative amount of star formation that goes into star cluster formation as opposed to field star formation, and into the formation of massive long-lived clusters in particular, is universal or scales with star-formation rate, burst strength, star-formation efficiency, galaxy or gas mass, and whether or not there are special conditions or some threshold for the formation of star clusters that merit to be called globular clusters a few billion years later.     

Cosmological Evolution of Supergiant Star-Forming Clouds

We present the results of very high resolution CDM simulations of galaxy formation designed to follow the formation and evolution of self-gravitating, supergiant star-forming clouds. We find that the mass spectrum of these clouds is identical to that of globular clusters and GMCs; dN/dM ∝ M ^-1.7 ± 0.1. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Merging Timescales and Merger Rates of Star Clusters in Dense Star Cluster Complexes

Interacting galaxies like the famous Antennae (NGC 4038/4039) or Stephan's Quintet (HCG 92) show considerable star forming activity in their tidal arms. High resolution images (e.g. from HST-observations) indicate that these regions consist of up to hundreds of massive stellar clusters or tidal dwarf galaxies (TDG). In this paper we want to investigate the future fate of these clusters of massive star clusters (in this work called super-clusters). We simulate compact super-clusters in the tidal field of a host-galaxy and investigate the influence of orbital and internal parameters on the rate and timescale of the merging process. We show that it is possible that such configurations merge and build a dwarf galaxy, which could be an important mechanism of how long-lived dwarf satellite galaxies form. A detailed study of the merger object will appear in a follow-up paper.This revised version was published online in October 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

球状星团的金属丰度特征与其恒星形成史

本文根据球状星团所特有的金属丰度特征,利用星族综合方法,探讨了球状星团诸恒星的形成史。研究表明,这些恒星不可能通过恒星形成率和初始质量函数均不随时间变化的单一恒星形成模式产生。原初云通过恒星演化而得到金属丰度污染的过程和多数恒星的形成过程必须分为两个不同的阶段。 球状星团得到金属丰度污染的过程中,若恒星形成具有通常的初始质量函数,则其恒星形成率必须较低,且初始质量函数不能太陡,从而使污染过程中只形成数量较少的低质量恒星,以保证单个球状星团内金属丰度的均匀性。另一种可能性是污染阶段有非常特殊的初始质量函数,只形成大质量的恒星,从而除提供适量污染外不留下任何痕迹。 多数恒星应是在原初云不同部位得到适当污染后通过局域的短暂的爆发性恒星形成(星暴过程)产生。本文进一步探讨了在Fan和Rees球状星团形成模型的框架下,两相介质中温云块相互碰撞造成星暴过程的可能性。     

The dynamical evolution of stellar superclusters

Recent images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope ( HST ) of the interacting disc galaxies NGC 4038/4039 (the Antennae) reveal clusters of many dozens and possibly hundreds of young compact massive star clusters within projected regions spanning about 100 to 500 pc. It is shown here that a large fraction of the individual star clusters merge within a few tens to a hundred Myr. Bound stellar systems with radii of a few hundred parsecs, masses ≲ 10⁹ M⊙ and relaxation times of 10¹¹ − 10¹² yr may form from these. These spheroidal dwarf galaxies contain old stars from the pre-merger galaxy and much younger stars formed in the massive star clusters, and possibly from later gas accretion events. The possibility that star formation in the outer regions of gas-rich tidal tails may also lead to superclusters is raised. The mass-to-light ratio of these objects is small, because they contain an insignificant amount of dark matter. After many hundred Myr such systems may resemble dwarf spheroidal satellite galaxies with large apparent mass-to-light ratios, if tidal shaping is important.     

Multiple populations in globular clusters Lessons learned from the Milky Way globular clusters

Recent progress in studies of globular clusters has shown that they are not simple stellar populations, but rather are made up of multiple generations. Evidence stems both from photometry and spectroscopy. A new paradigm is arising for the formation of massive star clusters, which includes several episodes of star formation. While this provides an explanation for several features of globular clusters, including the second-parameter problem, it also opens new perspectives on the relation between globular clusters and the halo of our Galaxy, and by extension on all populations with a high specific frequency of globular clusters, such as, e.g., giant elliptical galaxies. We review progress in this area, focussing on the most recent studies. Several points remain to become properly understood, in particular those concerning the nature of the polluters producing the abundance pattern in the clusters and the typical timescale, the range of cluster masses where this phenomenon is active, and the relation between globular clusters and other satellites of our Galaxy.     

Warped discs and the directional stability of jets in active galactic nuclei

The radial distribution of globular clusters in galaxies is always less peaked to the centre than that of the halo stars. Extending previous work to a sample of Hubble Space Telescope globular cluster systems in ellipticals, we evaluate the number of clusters potentially lost to the galactic centre as the integrals of the difference between the observed globular cluster system distribution and the underlying halo light profile. In the sample of galaxies examined it is found that the initial populations of globular clusters may have been ∼30 per cent to 50 per cent richer than now. If these 'missing' globular clusters have decayed and have been partly destroyed in the very central galactic zones, they have carried there a significant quantity of mass that, plausibly, contributed to the formation and feeding of a massive object therein. It is relevant to note that the observed correlation between the core radius of the globular cluster system and the parent galaxy luminosity can be interpreted as a result of evolution.     

A new method to derive star formation histories of galaxies from their star cluster distributions

Star formation happens in a clustered way which is why the star cluster population of a particular galaxy is closely related to the star formation history of this galaxy. From the probabilistic nature of a mass function follows that the mass of the most massive cluster of a complete population, M _max, has a distribution with the total mass of the population as a parameter. The total mass of the population is connected to the star formation rate (SFR) by the length of a formation epoch.
Since due to evolutionary effects only massive star clusters are observable up to high ages, it is convenient to use this M _max(SFR) relation for the reconstruction of a star formation history. The age distribution of the most massive clusters can therefore be used to constrain the star formation history of a galaxy. The method, including an assessment of the inherent uncertainties, is introduced with this contribution, while following papers will apply this method to a number of galaxies.     

恒星形成过程中的天体物理现象

恒星形成于分子云环境中。近30多年的观测研究使得天文学家对小质量恒星的形成有了相对明确的认识：小质量恒星通过坍缩、吸积和外向流的路标而形成。至于大质量恒星，其形成过程还存在着许多不确定因素，现有的观测证据表明：大质量恒星也可能通过坍缩、吸积和外向流的路标来形成，但也不排除在星团中通过中小质量恒星聚合而成的因素。大质量恒星形成与致密电离氢区(UCHII)成协较好，而与大质量恒星形成区成协的分子云环境中，既有大质量恒星也有小质量恒星形成。综述了恒星形成各个阶段的观测结果和研究现状以及成协的天体物理环境情况。未来的观测和研究重点在于，大质量恒星形成以及星团环境中的恒星形成。     

A binary study of color-magnitude diagrams of 12 globular clusters

Binary stars are common in star clusters and galaxies, but the detailed effects of binary evolution are not taken into account in some color-magnitude diagram (CMD) studies. This paper studies the CMDs of twelve globular clusters via binarystar stellar populations. The observational CMDs of the star clusters are compared to those of binary-star populations, and then the stellar metallicities, ages, distances and reddenings of these star clusters are obtained. The paper also tests the different effects of bi...     

Formation and Evolution of Intermediate Mass Black Hole X-Ray Binaries

The evolution of young (≲ 10 Myr) star clusters with a density exceeding about 10⁵ star pc⁻³ are strongly affected by physical stellar collisions during their early lifetime. In such environments the same star may participate in several tens to hundreds of collisions ultimately leading to the collapse of the star to a black hole of intermediate mass. At later time, the black hole may acquire a companion star by tidal capture or by dynamical – three-body – capture. When the captured star evolves it starts to fill its Roche-lobe and transfers mass to its accompanying black hole. This then leads to a bright phase of X-ray emission, which lasts for the remaining main-sequence lifetime of the donor. If the star captured by the intermediate mass black hole is relatively low mass ≲ 2 M⊙) the binary will also be visible as a bright source in gravitational waves. Based on empirical models we argue that, for as long as the donor remains on the main sequence, the source will be ultraluminous L_x >rsim 10⁴⁰ ergs^-1 for about a week every few month. When the donor star is more massive >15 M⊙, or evolved off the main sequence the bright time is longer, but the total accretion phase lasts much shorter.     

Evolutionary synthesis modelling of young star clusters in merging galaxies

The observational properties of globular cluster systems (GCSs) are vital tools to investigate the violent star formation histories of their host galaxies. This violence is thought to have been triggered by galaxy interactions or mergers. The most basic properties of a GCS are its luminosity function (number of clusters per luminosity bin) and color distributions. A large number of observed GCS show bimodal color distributions, which can be translated into a bimodality in either metallicity and/or age. An additional uncertainty comes into play when one considers extinction. These effects can be disentangled either by obtaining spectroscopic data for the clusters or by imaging observations in at least four passbands. This allows us then to discriminate between various formation scenarios of GCSs, e.g. the merger scenario by Ashman and Zepf, and the multi-phase collapse model by Forbes et al. Young and metal-rich star cluster populations are seen to form in interacting and merging galaxies. We analyse multiwavelength broad-band observations of these young cluster systems provided by the ASTROVIRTEL project. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Stellar populations in star clusters

Stellar populations contain the most important information about star cluster formation and evolution. Until several decades ago, star clusters were believed to be ideal laboratories for studies of simple stellar populations(SSPs). However, discoveries of multiple stellar populations in Galactic globular clusters have expanded our view on stellar populations in star clusters. They have simultaneously generated a number of controversies, particularly as to whether young star clusters may have the same origin as old globular clusters. In addition, extensive studies have revealed that the SSP scenario does not seem to hold for some intermediate-age and young star clusters either, thus making the origin of multiple stellar populations in star clusters even more complicated. Stellar population anomalies in numerous star clusters are well-documented, implying that the notion of star clusters as true SSPs faces serious challenges. In this review, we focus on stellar populations in massive clusters with different ages. We present the history and progress of research in this active field, as well as some of the most recent improvements, including observational results and scenarios that have been proposed to explain the observations. Although our current ability to determine the origin of multiple stellar populations in star clusters is unsatisfactory, we propose a number of promising projects that may contribute to a significantly improved understanding of this subject.     

The influence of gas expulsion and initial mass segregation on the stellar mass function of globular star clusters

Recently, De Marchi, Paresce & Pulone studied a sample of 20 globular clusters and found that all clusters with high concentrations have steep stellar mass functions while clusters with low concentration have comparatively shallow mass functions. No globular clusters were found with a flat mass function and high concentration. This seems curious since more concentrated star clusters are believed to be dynamically more evolved and should have lost more low-mass stars via evaporation, which would result in a shallower mass function in the low-mass part.
We show that this effect can be explained by residual-gas expulsion from initially mass segregated star clusters, and is enhanced further through unresolved binaries. If gas expulsion is the correct mechanism to produce the observed trend in the   c –α  -plane, then observation of these parameters would allow to constrain cluster starting conditions such as star formation efficiency and the time-scale of gas expulsion.     

Radial distribution of the integrated light and photometric colours in open star clusters

Mass segregation in the form of preferential concentration of more massive stars in the central regions of a number of open star clusters has been known for some time. In this paper, integratedUBV colours in concentric zones have been estimated for 12 nearby open clusters using the observations of individual cluster members. It is found that the clusters showing pronounced mass segregation also show significant radial variations in the integrated colours. However, the effects of stochastic fluctuations around the massive portion of the mass distribution function on the integrated colours should be taken into consideration, if they are present.     

Stellar contents of two young open clusters: NGC 663 and 654

UBVRI CCD photometry in a wide field around two young open clusters, NGC 663 and 654, has been carried out. Hα and polarimetric observations for the cluster NGC 654 have also been obtained. We use the photometric data to construct colour–colour and colour–magnitude diagrams, from which we can investigate the reddening, age, mass and evolutionary states of the stellar contents of the these clusters. The reddening across the cluster regions is found to be variable. There is evidence for anomalous reddening law in both clusters; however, more infrared and polarimetric data are needed to conclude about the reddening law. Both clusters are situated at about a distance of 2.4 kpc. Star formation in both clusters is found to be a continuous process. In the case of NGC 663, star formation seems to have taken place sequentially, in the sense that formation of low-mass stars precedes the formation of most massive stars. Whereas, in the case of NGC 654, formation of low-mass stars did not cease after the formation of most massive stars in the cluster.     

A Numerical Simulation Study of Mass Segregation in Embedded Stellar Clusters

The initial condition of the formation of massive stars is still unclear at present. In particular, it is still debatable whether or not massive stars are formed in the cluster center. Some people considered from the viewpoint of time scale and thought that the mass segregation phenomena in embedded clusters means that the massive stars can only be born in the cluster center. In this paper we used the Monte Carlo method to make numerical simulation of the dynamical evolution of embedded clusters and the result is compared with the observations. It is assumed that at the initial time massive stars are randomly distributed. It was found that, due to the random motions of massive stars, temporary mass segregation may exist at certain times in the course of evolution of a given embedded cluster, and this phenomenon may be very prominent in some of them. It is pointed out that massive star formation in the center is not the only explanation for mass segregation in embedded clusters. In addition, dynamical friction from the gas can effectively reduce the time scale of the dynamical mass segregation. In consequence, the probability of temporary mass segregation is increased.     

Constraints on the merger models of elliptical galaxies from their globular cluster systems

The discovery of protoglobular cluster candidates in many present-day mergers allows us to understand better the possible effects of a merger event on the globular cluster system of a galaxy, and to foresee the properties of the end-product. By comparing these expectations with the properties of globular cluster systems of elliptical galaxies at the present time we can constrain merger models. The observational data indicate that (i) every gaseous merger induces the formation of new star clusters, and (ii) the number of new clusters formed in such a merger increases with the gas content of the progenitor galaxies. Low-luminosity (about M _V  > −21), discy ellipticals are generally thought to be the result of a gaseous merger. As such, new globular clusters are expected to form but have not been detected to date. We investigate various reasons for the non-detection of subpopulations in low-luminosity ellipticals, i.e. absence of an old population, absence of a new population, destruction of one of the populations and, finally, an age–metallicity conspiracy that allows old and new globular clusters to appear indistinguishable at the present epoch. All of these possibilities lead us to a similar conclusion, namely that low-luminosity ellipticals did not form recently ( z  < 1) in a gas-rich merger, and might not have formed in a major merger of stellar systems at all. High-luminosity ellipticals do reveal globular cluster subpopulations. However, it is difficult to account for the two populations in terms of mergers alone and, in particular, we can rule out scenarios in which the second subpopulation is the product of a recent, gas-poor merger.