Astrophysics Seminar

The Life Cycle of Star Clusters - Universal or Special

Prof. Rupali Chandar
University of Toledo, Ohio

Tuesday, October 28, 2008 - 12:30 p.m.   NSH 184

There is now strong evidence that most stars form in groups and clusters, rather than individually. This realization has brought with it many questions, which have fundamental implications for the physics of how stars form, and for the stellar content that we observe in galaxies. What is the initial distribution of star cluster masses? How is this distribution modified over time through cluster disruption processes? This talk will present a picture for the life cycles of star clusters, from their birth in molecular clouds to their dissolution in the (unclustered) field star population. Our picture is motivated by recent observational studies of star clusters of different masses and ages in several nearby galaxies of different types (dwarf, giant, interacting, quiescent). Underlying the apparent diversity and complexity of these cluster systems, we find some intriguing regularities. We hypothesize that this simple picture is "universal" -- that it approximately describes the life cycles of most star clusters, whether they have been called open, populous, or super, in most if not all galaxies.

 

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