Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T07:25:20.325Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Star cluster evolution in the Magellanic Clouds revisited

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2008

Richard de Grijs  and
Simon P. Goodwin
Richard de Grijs
Affiliation:
Department of Physics & Astronomy, The University of Sheffield, Hicks Building, Hounsfield Road, Sheffield S3 7RH, UK email: R.deGrijs@sheffield.ac.uk, S.Goodwin@sheffield.ac.uk National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 20A Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100012, China
Simon P. Goodwin
Affiliation:
Department of Physics & Astronomy, The University of Sheffield, Hicks Building, Hounsfield Road, Sheffield S3 7RH, UK email: R.deGrijs@sheffield.ac.uk, S.Goodwin@sheffield.ac.uk
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The evolution of star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds has been the subject of significant recent controversy, particularly regarding the importance and length of the earliest, largely mass-independent disruption phase (referred to as “infant mortality”). Here, we take a fresh approach to the problem, using a large, independent, and homogeneous data set of UBVR imaging observations, from which we obtain the cluster age and mass distributions in both the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC, SMC) in a self-consistent manner. We conclude that the (optically selected) SMC star cluster population has undergone at most ~30% (1σ) infant mortality between the age range from about 3–10 Myr, to that of approximately 40–160 Myr. We rule out a 90% cluster mortality rate per decade of age (for the full age range up to 109 yr) at a > 6σ level. Using a simple approach, we derive a “characteristic” cluster disruption time-scale for the cluster population in the LMC that implies that we are observing the initial cluster mass function (CMF). Preliminary results suggest that the LMC cluster population may be affected by <10% infant mortality.

Keywords

globular clusters: generalopen clusters and associations: generalgalaxies: evolutionMagellanic Cloudsgalaxies: star clusters
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 4 , Symposium S256: The Magellanic System: Stars, Gas, and Galaxies , July 2008 , pp. 311 - 316
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2009

References

Bik, A., Lamers, H. J. G. L. M., Bastian, N., Panagia, N., & Romaniello, M., 2003, A&A, 397, 473Google Scholar
Boutloukos, S. G. & Lamers, H. J. G. L. M. 2003, MNRAS, 338, 717CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chandar, R., Fall, S. M. & Whitmore, B. C. 2006, ApJ, 650, L111CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chiosi, E., Vallenari, A., Held, E. V., Rizzi, L., & Moretti, A. 2006, A&A, 452, 179Google Scholar
de Grijs, R. & Anders, P. 2006, MNRAS, 366, 295CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Grijs, R., Anders, P., Lynds, R., Bastian, N., Lamers, H. J. G. L. M., & O'Neill, E. J. Jr. 2003, MNRAS, 343, 1285CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Grijs, R. & Goodwin, S. P. 2008, MNRAS, 383, 1000CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elmegreen, B. G. 2002, ApJ, 564, 773CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elmegreen, B. G. & Efremov, Y. N. 1997, ApJ 480, 235CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elson, R. A. W. & Fall, S. M. 1985, ApJ, 299, 211CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fall, S. M. & Zhang, Q. 2001, ApJ, 561, 751CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gieles, M., Lamers, H. J. G. L. M. & Portegies Zwart, S. F. 2007, ApJ, 668, 268CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gnedin, O. Y. & Ostriker, J. P. 1997, ApJ, 474, 223CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodwin, S. P. & Bastian, N. 2006, MNRAS, 373, 752CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunter, D. A., Elmegreen, B. G., Dupuy, T. J., & Mortonson, M. 2003, AJ, 126, 1836CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lamers, H. J. G. L. M., Gieles, M., Bastian, N., Baumgardt, H., Kharchenko, N. V., & Portegies Zwart, S. F. 2005, A&A, 441, 117Google Scholar
Lee, H. J. & Lee, M. G. 2005, JKAS, 38, 345Google Scholar
McLaughlin, D. E. 1994, PASP, 106, 47CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, B. W., Whitmore, B. C., Schweizer, F., & Fall, S. M. 1997, AJ, 114, 2381CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ostriker, J. P. & Gnedin, O. Y. 1997, ApJ, 487, 667CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parmentier, G. & de Grijs, R. 2008, MNRAS, 383, 1103CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prieto, J. L. & Gnedin, O. Y. 2008, ApJ, 689, 919CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rafelski, M. & Zaritsky, D. 2005, AJ, 129, 2701CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitmore, B. C. & Schweizer, F. 1995, AJ, 109, 960CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitmore, B. C., Schweizer, F., Kundu, A., & Miller, B. W. 2002, AJ, 124, 147CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitmore, B. C., Zhang, Q., Leitherer, C., Fall, S. M., Schweizer, F., & Miller, B. W. 1999, AJ, 118, 1551CrossRefGoogle Scholar