Merging Massive Star Clusters as Building Blocks of Dwarf Galaxies? |
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Authors: | M Fellhauer P Kroupa |
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Institution: | (1) Institute for Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, University of Kiel, Germany |
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Abstract: | Recent spectroscopic observations of galaxies in the Fornax-Cluster reveal nearly unresolved ‘star-like’ objects with red-shifts
appropriate to the Fornax-Cluster. These objects have intrinsic sizes of ≈ 100 pc and absolute B-band magnitudes in the range
- 14 < MB < -11.5 mag and lower limits for the central surface brightness μB ≥ 23 mag/arcsec2 (Phillipps et al., 2001, Hilker et al., 1999), and so appear to constitute a new population of ultra-compact dwarf galaxies
(UCDs). Such compact dwarfs were predicted to form from the amalgamation of stellar super-clusters (= clusters of star clusters;
not to confuse with super stellar clusters (SSC)) by P. Kroupa (1998), which are rich aggregates of young massive star clusters
(YMCs) that can form in collisions between gas-rich galaxies. Here we present the evolution of super-clusters in a tidal field.
The YMCs merge on a few super-cluster crossing times. Super-clusters that are initially as concentrated and massive as Knot
S in the interacting Antennae galaxies (Whitmore et al., 1999) evolve to merger objects that are long-lived and show properties
comparable to the newly discovered UCDs.
This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. |
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Keywords: | Galaxies: evolution Galaxies: formation Galaxies: Interaction Galaxies: Star Clusters Galaxies: Dwarfs – Methods: N-body simulations |
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