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

Abstract

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.

Authors:
;  [1]
  1. Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University, Yi He Yuan Lu 5, Hai Dian District, Beijing 100871 (China)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22078496
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astrophysical Journal Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 758; Journal Issue: 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 2041-8205
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; GALACTIC EVOLUTION; GALAXIES; MASS DISTRIBUTION; SHEAR; STAR CLUSTERS; STARS; UNIVERSE

Citation Formats

De Grijs, Richard, and Anders, Peter. EXTREMELY RAPID STAR CLUSTER DISRUPTION IN HIGH-SHEAR CIRCUMNUCLEAR STARBURST RINGS: THE UNUSUAL CASE OF NGC 7742. United States: N. p., 2012. Web. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/758/1/L22.
De Grijs, Richard, & Anders, Peter. EXTREMELY RAPID STAR CLUSTER DISRUPTION IN HIGH-SHEAR CIRCUMNUCLEAR STARBURST RINGS: THE UNUSUAL CASE OF NGC 7742. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/758/1/L22
De Grijs, Richard, and Anders, Peter. 2012. "EXTREMELY RAPID STAR CLUSTER DISRUPTION IN HIGH-SHEAR CIRCUMNUCLEAR STARBURST RINGS: THE UNUSUAL CASE OF NGC 7742". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/758/1/L22.
@article{osti_22078496,
title = {EXTREMELY RAPID STAR CLUSTER DISRUPTION IN HIGH-SHEAR CIRCUMNUCLEAR STARBURST RINGS: THE UNUSUAL CASE OF NGC 7742},
author = {De Grijs, Richard and Anders, Peter},
abstractNote = {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.},
doi = {10.1088/2041-8205/758/1/L22},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22078496}, journal = {Astrophysical Journal Letters},
issn = {2041-8205},
number = 1,
volume = 758,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Oct 10 00:00:00 EDT 2012},
month = {Wed Oct 10 00:00:00 EDT 2012}
}