STAR CLUSTERS IN A NUCLEAR STAR FORMING RING: THE DISAPPEARING STRING OF PEARLS

Journal Article · Sat Dec 20 04:00:00 EST 2014 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/797/2/L16· OSTI ID:22364841

Väisänen, Petri; Barway, Sudhanshu; Randriamanakoto, Zara ^[1]

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1. South African Astronomical Observatory, P.O. Box 9 Observatory, Cape Town (South Africa)

An analysis of the star cluster population in a low-luminosity early-type galaxy, NGC 2328, is presented. The clusters are found in a tight star forming nuclear spiral/ring pattern and we also identify a bar from structural two-dimensional decomposition. These massive clusters are forming very efficiently in the circumnuclear environment and they are young, possibly all less than 30 Myr of age. The clusters indicate an azimuthal age gradient, consistent with a ''pearls-on-a-string'' formation scenario, suggesting bar-driven gas inflow. The cluster mass function has a robust down turn at low masses at all age bins. Assuming clusters are born with a power-law distribution, this indicates extremely rapid disruption at timescales of just several million years. If found to be typical, it means that clusters born in dense circumnuclear rings do not survive to become old globular clusters in non-interacting systems.

• OSTI ID: 22364841
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Letters Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 797; ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
GALAXIES
LUMINOSITY
MASS
STAR CLUSTERS
STAR EVOLUTION
STARS
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS