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1.
We examine the dynamical destruction of binary systems in star clusters of different densities. We find that at high densities  (104– 105 M⊙ pc−3)  almost all binaries with separations  >103  au are destroyed after a few crossing times. At low densities [     ], many binaries with separations  >103  au are destroyed, and no binaries with separations  >104  au survive after a few crossing times. Therefore, the binary separations in clusters can be used as a tracer of the dynamical age and past density of a cluster.
We argue that the central region of the Orion nebula cluster was ∼100 times denser in the past with a half-mass radius of only 0.1–0.2 pc as (i) it is expanding, (ii) it has very few binaries with separations  >103  au and (iii) it is well mixed and therefore dynamically old.
We also examine the origin of the field binary population. Binaries with separations  <102  au are not significantly modified in any cluster, therefore at these separations the field reflects the sum of all star formation. Binaries with separations in the range  102– 104  au are progressively more and more heavily affected by dynamical disruption in increasingly dense clusters. If most star formation is clustered, these binaries must be overproduced relative to the field. Finally, no binary with a separation  >104  au can survive in any cluster and so must be produced by isolated star formation, but only if all isolated star formation produces extremely wide binaries.  相似文献   

2.
In large spheroidal stellar systems, such as elliptical galaxies, one invariably finds a  106–109 M⊙  supermassive black hole at their centre. In contrast, within dwarf elliptical galaxies one predominantly observes a  105–107 M⊙  nuclear star cluster. To date, few galaxies have been found with both types of nuclei coexisting and even less have had the masses determined for both central components. Here, we identify one dozen galaxies housing nuclear star clusters and supermassive black holes whose masses have been measured. This doubles the known number of such hermaphrodite nuclei – which are expected to be fruitful sources of gravitational radiation. Over the host spheroid (stellar) mass range  108–1011 M⊙  , we find that a galaxy's nucleus-to-spheroid (baryon) mass ratio is not a constant value but decreases from a few per cent to ∼0.3 per cent such that  log[( M BH+ M NC)/ M sph]=−(0.39 ± 0.07) log[ M sph/1010 M⊙]− (2.18 ± 0.07)  . Once dry merging commences and the nuclear star clusters disappear, this ratio is expected to become a constant value.
As a byproduct of our investigation, we have found that the projected flux from resolved nuclear star clusters is well approximated with Sérsic functions having a range of indices from ∼0.5 to ∼3, the latter index describing the Milky Way's nuclear star cluster.  相似文献   

3.
Many objects studied in astronomy follow a power-law distribution function (DF), for example the masses of stars or star clusters. A still used method by which such data is analysed is to generate a histogram and fit a straight line to it. The parameters obtained in this way can be severely biased, and the properties of the underlying DF, such as its shape or a possible upper limit, are difficult to extract. In this work, we review techniques available in the literature and present newly developed (effectively) bias-free estimators for the exponent and the upper limit. Furthermore, we discuss various graphical representations of the data and powerful goodness-of-fit tests to assess the validity of a power law for describing the distribution of data. As an example, we apply the presented methods to the data set of massive stars in R136 and the young star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud. For R136 we confirm the result of Koen of a truncated power law with a bias-free estimate for the exponent of  2.20 ± 0.78/2.87 ± 0.98  (where the Salpeter–Massey value is 2.35) and for the upper limit of  143 ± 9/163 ± 9 M⊙  , depending on the stellar models used. The star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud (with ages up to  107.5 yr  ) follow a truncated power-law distribution with exponent  1.62 ± 0.06  and upper limit  68 ± 12 × 103 M⊙  . Using the graphical data representation, a significant change in the form of the mass function below  102.5 M⊙  can be detected, which is likely caused by incompleteness in the data.  相似文献   

4.
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5.
It has been recently shown that the dynamical V -band mass-to-light ratios of compact stellar systems with masses from 106 to  108 M⊙  are not consistent with the predictions from simple stellar population models. Top-heavy stellar initial mass functions (IMFs) in these so-called ultra-compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) offer an attractive explanation for this finding, the stellar remnants and retained stellar envelopes providing the unseen mass. We therefore construct a model which quantifies by how much the IMFs of UCDs would have to deviate in the intermediate- and high-mass range from the canonical IMF in order to account for the enhanced   M / LV   ratio of the UCDs. The deduced high-mass IMF in the UCDs depends on the age of the UCDs and the number of faint products of stellar evolution retained by them. Assuming that the IMF in the UCDs is a three-part power law equal to the canonical IMF in the low-mass range and taking 20 per cent as a plausible choice for the fraction of the remnants of high-mass stars retained by UCDs, the model suggests the exponent of the high-mass IMF to be ≈1.6 if the UCDs are  13 Gyr  old (i.e. almost as old as the Universe) or ≈1.0 if the UCDs are  7 Gyr  old, in contrast to 2.3 for the Salpeter–Massey IMF. If the IMF was as top heavy as suggested here, the stability of the UCDs might have been threatened by heavy mass loss induced by the radiation and evolution of massive stars. The central densities of UCDs must have been in the range  106 to 107 M⊙ pc−3  when they formed with star formation rates of  10 to 100 M⊙ yr−1  .  相似文献   

6.
We present high-resolution near-infrared imaging obtained using adaptive optics and HST /NICMOS, and ground-based spectroscopy of the hotspot galaxy NGC 2903. Our near-infrared resolution imaging enables us to resolve the infrared hotspots into individual young stellar clusters or groups of these. The spatial distribution of the stellar clusters is not coincident with that of the bright H  ii regions, as revealed by the HST /NICMOS Pa α image. Overall, the circumnuclear star formation in NGC 2903 shows a ring-like morphology with an approximate diameter of 625 pc.
The star formation properties of the stellar clusters and H  ii regions have been studied using the photometric and spectroscopic information in conjunction with evolutionary synthesis models. The population of bright stellar clusters shows a very narrow range of ages, 4–7×106 yr after the peak of star formation, or absolute ages 6.5–9.5×106 yr (for the assumed short-duration Gaussian bursts), and luminosities similar to the clusters found in the Antennae interacting galaxy. This population of young stellar clusters accounts for some 7–12 per cent of the total stellar mass in the central 625 pc of NGC 2903. The H  ii regions in the ring of star formation have luminosities close to that of the supergiant H  ii region 30 Doradus, they are younger than the stellar clusters, and they will probably evolve into bright infrared stellar clusters similar to those observed today. We find that the star formation efficiency in the central regions of NGC 2903 is higher than in normal galaxies, approaching the lower end of infrared luminous galaxies.  相似文献   

7.
The Sc galaxy M 99 in the Virgo Cluster has been strongly affected by tidal interactions and recent close encounters, responsible for an asymmetric spiral pattern and a high star formation rate. Our XMM–Newton study shows that the inner disc is dominated by hot plasma at kT ≈ 0.30 keV, with a total X-ray luminosity of ≈1041 erg s−1 in the 0.3–12 keV band. At the outskirts of the galaxy, away from the main star-forming regions, there is an ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) with an X-ray luminosity of ≈2 × 1040 erg s−1 and a hard spectrum well fitted by a power law of photon index Γ≈ 1.7. This source is close to the location where a massive H  i cloud appears to be falling on to the M 99 disc at a relative speed of >100 km s−1. We suggest that there may be a direct physical link between fast cloud collisions and the formation of bright ULXs, which may be powered by accreting black holes with masses ∼100 M⊙. External collisions may trigger large-scale dynamical collapses of protoclusters, leading to the formation of very massive (≳200 M⊙) stellar progenitors; we argue that such stars may later collapse into massive black holes if their metal abundance is sufficiently low.  相似文献   

8.
Recent images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope ( HST ) of the interacting disc galaxies NGC 4038/4039 (the Antennae) reveal clusters of many dozens and possibly hundreds of young compact massive star clusters within projected regions spanning about 100 to 500 pc. It is shown here that a large fraction of the individual star clusters merge within a few tens to a hundred Myr. Bound stellar systems with radii of a few hundred parsecs, masses ≲ 109 M⊙ and relaxation times of 1011 − 1012 yr may form from these. These spheroidal dwarf galaxies contain old stars from the pre-merger galaxy and much younger stars formed in the massive star clusters, and possibly from later gas accretion events. The possibility that star formation in the outer regions of gas-rich tidal tails may also lead to superclusters is raised. The mass-to-light ratio of these objects is small, because they contain an insignificant amount of dark matter. After many hundred Myr such systems may resemble dwarf spheroidal satellite galaxies with large apparent mass-to-light ratios, if tidal shaping is important.  相似文献   

9.
Theoretical electron density sensitive line ratios   R 1– R 6  of Si  x soft X-ray emission lines are presented. We found that these line ratios are sensitive to electron density n e, and the ratio R 1 is insensitive to electron temperature T e. For reliable determination of the electron density of laboratory and astrophysical plasmas, atomic data, such as electron impact excitation rates, are very important. Our results reveal that the discrepancy of the line ratios from different atomic data calculated with the distorted wave (DW) approximation and the R-matrix method is up to 19 per cent at   n e= 2 × 108 cm−3  . We applied the theoretical intensity ratio R 1 to the Low Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer (LETGS) spectrum of the solar-like star Procyon. By comparing the observed value (1.29) with the theoretical calculation, the derived electron density n e is  2.6 × 108 cm−3  , which is consistent with that derived from  (C  v < 8.3 × 108 cm−3)  . When the temperature structure of the Procyon corona is taken into account, the derived electron density increases from   n e= 2.6 × 108  to  2.8 × 108 cm−3  .  相似文献   

10.
We consider the expulsion of the magnetic field from the super-conducting core of a neutron star and its subsequent decay in the crust. Particular attention is paid to a strong feedback of the distortion of magnetic field lines in the crust on the expulsion of the flux from the core. This causes a considerable delay in the core flux expulsion if the initial field strength is larger than 1011 G. It is shown that the hypothesis on the magnetic field expulsion induced by the neutron-star spin-down is adequate only for a relatively weak initial magnetic field B ≈1011 G. The expulsion time-scale depends not only on the conductivity of the crust, but also on the initial magnetic field strength itself. Our model of the field evolution naturally explains the existence of the residual magnetic field of neutron stars. Its strength is correlated with the impurity concentration in neutron-star crusts and anticorrelated with the initial field strengths.  相似文献   

11.
We establish constraints on the mass and abundance of black holes in the Galactic halo by determining their impact on globular clusters, which are conventionally considered to be little evolved. Using detailed Monte Carlo simulations and simple evolutionary models, we argue that black holes with masses M bh≳(1–3)×106 M⊙ can comprise no more than a fraction f bh≈0.17 of the total halo density at Galactocentric radius R ≈8 kpc. This bound arises from requiring stability of the cluster mass function. A more restrictive bound may be derived if we demand that the probability of destruction of any given, low-mass M c≈(2.5–7.5)×104 M⊙] globular cluster not exceed 50 per cent; this bound is f bh≲0.025–0.05 at R ≈8 kpc. This constraint improves those based on disc heating and dynamical friction arguments as well as current lensing results. At smaller radius the constraint on f bh strengthens, while at larger radius an increased fraction of black holes is allowed.  相似文献   

12.
The results of U -filter flare monitoring of the binary flare star FL Vir = Wolf 424 is presented. 57 flares with energies between  2 × 1028  and  2 × 1031 erg  were recorded in 20 h of observation. The properties of flare occurrence and flare time-scales are analysed, and the flare activity level in 1980 April is determined to be   L f( U ) = 8.0 × 1026 erg s−1  . This is larger than previously published results and may indicate a variation in the flare activity level on a time-scale of years. An analysis of existing data indicates that the flare activity level correlates with the relative orbital positions of the stars.  相似文献   

13.
We studied the radio source associated with the ultraluminous X-ray source in NGC 5408  ( L X≈ 1040 erg s−1)  . The radio spectrum is steep (index  ≈−1  ), consistent with optically thin synchrotron emission, not with flat-spectrum core emission. Its flux density (≈0.28 mJy at 4.8 GHz, at a distance of 4.8 Mpc) was the same in the March 2000 and December 2004 observations, suggesting steady emission rather than a transient outburst. However, it is orders of magnitude higher than expected from steady jets in stellar-mass microquasar. Based on its radio flux and spectral index, we suggest that the radio source is either an unusually bright supernova remnant, or, more likely, a radio lobe powered by a jet from the black hole (BH). Moreover, there is speculative evidence that the source is marginally resolved with a radius ∼30 pc. A faint H  ii region of similar size appears to coincide with the radio and X-ray sources, but its ionization mechanism remains unclear. Using a self-similar solution for the expansion of a jet-powered electron–positron plasma bubble, in the minimum-energy approximation, we show that the observed flux and (speculative) size are consistent with an average jet power  ≈ 7 × 1038 erg s−1∼ 0.1 L X∼ 0.1 L Edd  , an age ≈105 yr, a current velocity of expansion ≈80 km s−1. We briefly discuss the importance of this source as a key to understand the balance between luminosity and jet power in accreting BHs.  相似文献   

14.
We explore the gravitational influence of pressure-supported stellar systems on the internal density distribution of a gaseous environment. We conclude that compact massive star clusters with masses  ≳106 M⊙  act as cloud condensation nuclei and are able to accrete gas recurrently from a warm interstellar medium which may cause further star formation events and account for multiple stellar populations in the most massive globular and nuclear star clusters. The same analytical arguments can be used to decide whether an arbitrary spherical stellar system is able to keep warm or hot interstellar material or not. These mass thresholds coincide with transition masses between pressure supported galaxies of different morphological types.  相似文献   

15.
We use several main-sequence models to derive distances (and extinctions), with statistically meaningful uncertainties for 11 star-forming regions and young clusters. The model dependency is shown to be small, allowing us to adopt the distances derived using one model. Using these distances, we have revised the age order for some of the clusters of Mayne et al. The new nominal ages are: ≈2 Myr for NGC 6530 and the ONC, ≈3 Myr for λ Orionis, NGC 2264 and σ Orionis, ≈4–5 Myr for NGC 2362, ≈13 Myr for h and χ Per, ≈20 Myr for NGC 1960 and ≈40 Myr for NGC 2547. In cases of significantly variable extinction, we have derived individual extinctions using a revised Q-method. These new data show that the largest remaining uncertainty in deriving an age ordering (and necessarily ages) is metallicity. We also discuss the use of a feature we term the radiative–convective gap overlap to provide a diagnostic of isochronal age spreads or varying accretion histories within a given star formation region. Finally, recent derivations of the distance to the ONC lie in two groups. Our new more precise distance of 391+12−9 pc allows us to decisively reject the further distance; we adopt 400 pc as a convenient value.  相似文献   

16.
We investigate the properties of the first galaxies at   z ≳ 10  with highly resolved numerical simulations, starting from cosmological initial conditions and taking into account all relevant primordial chemistry and cooling. A first galaxy is characterized by the onset of atomic hydrogen cooling, once the virial temperature exceeds  ≃104 K  , and its ability to retain photoheated gas. We follow the complex accretion and star formation history of a  ≃5 × 107 M⊙  system by means of a detailed merger tree and derive an upper limit on the number of Population III (Pop III) stars formed prior to its assembly. We investigate the thermal and chemical evolution of infalling gas and find that partial ionization at temperatures  ≳104 K  catalyses the formation of  H2  and hydrogen deuteride, allowing the gas to cool to the temperature of the cosmic microwave background. Depending on the strength of radiative and chemical feedback, primordial star formation might be dominated by intermediate-mass Pop III stars formed during the assembly of the first galaxies. Accretion on to the nascent galaxy begins with hot accretion, where gas is accreted directly from the intergalactic medium and shock heated to the virial temperature, but is quickly accompanied by a phase of cold accretion, where the gas cools in filaments before flowing into the parent halo with high velocities. The latter drives supersonic turbulence at the centre of the galaxy and could lead to very efficient chemical mixing. The onset of turbulence in the first galaxies thus likely marks the transition to Pop II star formation.  相似文献   

17.
Recently, BeppoSAX and ASCA have observed an unusual resurgence of soft X-ray emission during the afterglows of GRB 970508 and 970828, together with marginal evidence for the existence of Fe lines in both objects. We consider the implications of the existence of a torus of iron-rich material surrounding the sites of gamma-ray bursts, as would be expected in the supra-nova model; in particular, we show that the fireball will quickly hit this torus, and bring it to a temperature of ≈3×107 K. Bremsstrahlung emission from the heated-up torus will cause a resurgence of the soft X-ray emission with all expected characteristics (flux level, duration and spectral hardening with time) identical to those observed during the re-burst. Also, thermal emission from the torus will account for the observed iron line flux. These events are also observable, for instance by new missions such as SWIFT , when beaming away from our line of sight makes us miss the main burst, as fast (soft) X-ray transients, with durations of ≈103 s and fluences of ≈10−7–10−4 erg cm−2. This model provides evidence in favour of the supra-nova model for gamma-ray bursts.  相似文献   

18.
We present a new determination of the local volume-averaged star formation rate from the 1.4-GHz luminosity function of star forming galaxies. Our sample, taken from the   B ≤12  Revised Shapley–Ames catalogue (231 normal spiral galaxies over an effective area of 7.1 sr) has ≃100 per cent complete radio detections and is insensitive to dust obscuration and cirrus contamination. After removal of known active galaxies, the best-fitting Schechter function has a faint-end slope of  −1.27±0.07  in agreement with the local H α luminosity function, characteristic luminosity   L ∗=(2.6±0.7)×1022 W Hz−1  and density   φ ∗=(4.8±1.1)×10−4 Mpc−3.  The inferred local radio luminosity density of  (1.73±0.37±0.03)×1019 W Hz−1 Mpc−3  (Poisson noise, large-scale structure fluctuations) implies a volume-averaged star formation rate ∼2 times larger than the Gallego et al. H α estimate, i.e.   ρ 1.4 GHz=(2.10±0.45±0.04)×10−2 M⊙ yr−1 Mpc−3  for a Salpeter initial mass function from  0.1–125 M⊙  and Hubble constant of 50 km s−1 Mpc−1. We demonstrate that the Balmer decrement is a highly unreliable extinction estimator, and argue that optical–ultraviolet (UV) star formation rates (SFRs) are easily underestimated, particularly at high redshift.  相似文献   

19.
We study the evolution of supernova remnants in a low-metallicity medium   Z /Z⊙= 10−4 to 10−2  in the early universe, using one-dimensional hydrodynamics with non-equilibrium chemistry. Once a post-shock layer is able to cool radiatively, a dense shell forms behind the shock. If this shell becomes gravitationally unstable and fragments into pieces, next-generation stars are expected to form from these fragments. To explore the possibility of this triggered star formation, we apply a linear perturbation analysis of an expanding shell to our results and constrain the parameter range of ambient density, explosion energy and metallicity where fragmentation of the shell occurs. For the explosion energy of  1051 erg (1052 erg)  , the shell fragmentation occurs for ambient densities higher than  ≳102 cm−3 (10 cm−3  ), respectively. This condition depends little on the metallicity in the ranges we examined. We find that the mode of star formation triggered occurs only in massive  (≳108 M⊙)  haloes.  相似文献   

20.
A Population III/Population II transition from massive to normal stars is predicted to occur when the metallicity of the star-forming gas crosses the critical range   Z cr= 10−5±1 Z⊙  . To investigate the cosmic implications of such a process, we use numerical simulations which follow the evolution, metal enrichment and energy deposition of both Population II and Population III stars. We find that: (i) due to inefficient heavy element transport by outflows and slow 'genetic' transmission during hierarchical growth, large fluctuations around the average metallicity arise; as a result, Population III star formation continues down to   z = 2.5  , but at a low peak rate of  10−5 M⊙ yr−1 Mpc−3  occurring at   z ≈ 6  (about 10−4 of the Population II one); and (ii) Population III star formation proceeds in an 'inside–out' mode in which formation sites are progressively confined to the periphery of collapsed structures, where the low gas density and correspondingly long free-fall time-scales result in a very inefficient astration. These conclusions strongly encourage deep searches for pristine star formation sites at moderate  (2 < z < 5)  redshifts where metal-free stars are likely to be hidden.  相似文献   

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