EXTREMELY RAPID STAR CLUSTER DISRUPTION IN HIGH-SHEAR CIRCUMNUCLEAR STARBURST RINGS: THE UNUSUAL CASE OF NGC 7742

Journal Article · Wed Oct 10 04:00:00 EDT 2012 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/758/1/L22· OSTI ID:22078496

De Grijs, Richard; Anders, Peter ^[1]

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1. Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University, Yi He Yuan Lu 5, Hai Dian District, Beijing 100871 (China)

All known mass distributions of recently formed star cluster populations resemble a 'universal' power-law function. Here we assess the impact of the extremely disruptive environment in NGC 7742's circumnuclear starburst ring on the early evolution of the galaxy's high-mass ({approx}10{sup 5}-10{sup 7} M{sub Sun }) star cluster population. Surprisingly, and contrary to expectations, at all ages-including the youngest, {approx}< 15 Myr-the cluster mass functions are robustly and verifiably represented by lognormal distributions that resemble those commonly found only for old, evolved globular cluster systems in the local universe. This suggests that the high-shear conditions in the NGC 7742 starburst ring may significantly speed up dynamical star cluster destruction. This enhanced mass-dependent disruption rate at very young ages might be caused by a combination of the starburst ring's high density and the shear caused by the counterrotating gas disk.

• OSTI ID: 22078496
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Letters Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 758; ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
GALACTIC EVOLUTION
GALAXIES
MASS DISTRIBUTION
SHEAR
STAR CLUSTERS
STARS
UNIVERSE