The effect of giant molecular clouds on star clusters

We study the encounters between stars clusters and giant molecular clouds (GMCs). The effect of these encounters has previously been studied analytically for two cases: 1) head-on encounters, for which the cluster moves through the centre of the GMC and 2) distant encounters, where the encounter distance p > 3*R_n, with p the encounter parameter and R_n the radius of the GMC. We introduce an expression for the energy gain of the cluster due to GMC encounters valid for all values of p and R_n. This analytical result is confronted with results from N-body simulations and excellent agreement is found. From the simulations we find that the fractional mass loss is only 25% of the fractional energy gain. This is because stars escape with velocities much higher than the escape velocity. Based on the mass loss, we derive a disruption time for star clusters due to encounters with GMCs of the form t_dis [Gyr] = 2.0*S*(M_c/10^4 M_sun)^gamma, with S=1 for the solar neighbourhood and inversely proportional with the global GMC density and gamma=1-3lambda, with lambda the index that relates the cluster half-mass radius to the cluster mass (r_h ~ M_c^lambda). The observed shallow relation between cluster radius and mass (e.g. lambda=0.1), makes the index (gamma=0.7) similar to the index found both from observations and from simulations of clusters dissolving in tidal fields (gamma=0.62). The constant of 2.0 Gyr, which is the disruption time of a 10^4 M_sun cluster in the solar neighbourhood, is close to the value of 1.3 Gyr which was empirically determined from the age distribution of open clusters. This suggests that the combined effect of GMC encounters, stellar evolution and galactic tidal field can explain the lack of old open clusters in the solar neighbourhood.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures, contribution to "Globular Clusters: Guides to Galaxies", March 6th-10th, 200

A prescription and fast code for the long-term evolution of star clusters - II. Unbalanced and core evolution

We introduce version two of the fast star cluster evolution code Evolve Me A Cluster of StarS (emacss). The first version (Alexander and Gieles) assumed that cluster evolution is balanced for the majority of the life cycle, meaning that the rate of energy generation in the core of the cluster equals the diffusion rate of energy by two-body relaxation, which makes the code suitable for modelling clusters in weak tidal fields. In this new version, we extend the model to include an unbalanced phase of evolution to describe the pre-collapse evolution and the accompanying escape rate such that clusters in strong tidal fields can also be modelled. We also add a prescription for the evolution of the core radius and density and a related cluster concentration parameter. The model simultaneously solves a series of first-order ordinary differential equations for the rate of change of the core radius, half-mass radius and the number of member stars N. About two thousand integration steps in time are required to solve for the entire evolution of a star cluster and this number is approximately independent of N. We compare the model to the variation of these parameters following from a series of direct N-body calculations of single-mass clusters and find good agreement in the evolution of all parameters. Relevant time-scales, such as the total lifetimes and core collapse times, are reproduced with an accuracy of about 10 per cent for clusters with various initial half-mass radii (relative to their Jacobi radii) and a range of different initial N up to N = 65 536. The current version of emacss contains the basic physics that allows us to evolve several cluster properties for single-mass clusters in a simple and fast way. We intend to extend this framework to include more realistic initial conditions, such as a stellar mass spectrum and mass-loss from stars. The emacss code can be used in star cluster population studies and in models that consider the co-evolution of (globular) star clusters and large-scale structures

Disk winds of B[e] supergiants

The class of B[e] supergiants is characterized by a two-component stellar wind consisting of a normal hot star wind in the polar zone and a slow and dense disk-like wind in the equatorial region. The properties of the disk wind are discussed using satellite UV spectra of stars seen edge-on, i.e. through the equatorial disk. These observations show that the disk winds are extremely slow, 50-90 km/s, i.e. a factor of about 10 slower than expected from the spectral types. Optical emission lines provide a further means to study the disk wind. This is discussed for line profiles of forbidden lines formed in the disk.Comment: 7 pages, LaTeX, 3 ps figures, uses lamuphys.sty from Springer-Verlag, to be published in the proceedings of IAU Coll. 169 "Variable and Non-spherical Stellar Winds in Luminous Hot Stars" held in Heidelberg 199

The Baltimore and Utrecht models for cluster dissolution

The analysis of the age distributions of star cluster samples of different galaxies has resulted in two very different empirical models for the dissolution of star clusters: the Baltimore model and the Utrecht model. I describe these two models and their differences. The Baltimore model implies that the dissolution of star clusters is mass independent and that about 90% of the clusters are destroyed each age dex, up to an age of about a Gyr, after which point mass-dependent dissolution from two-body relaxation becomes the dominant mechanism. In the Utrecht model, cluster dissolution occurs in three stages: (i) mass-independent infant mortality due to the expulsion of gas up to about 10 Myr; (ii) a phase of slow dynamical evolution with strong evolutionary fading of the clusters lasting up to about a Gyr; and (iii) a phase dominated by mass dependent-dissolution, as predicted by dynamical models. I describe the cluster age distributions for mass-limited and magnitude-limited cluster samples for both models. I refrain from judging the correctness of these models.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure, to appear in "Young Massive Star Clusters - Initial Conditions and Environment", 2008, Astrophysics and Space Science, Eds. E. Perez, R. de Grijs and R.M. Gonzalez Delgad

Young star clusters in M31

In our study of M31's globular cluster system with MMT/Hectospec, we have obtained high-quality spectra of 85 clusters with ages less than 1 Gyr. With the exception of Hubble V, the young cluster in NGC 205, we find that these young clusters have kinematics and spatial distribution consistent with membership in M31's young disk. Preliminary estimates of the cluster masses and structural parameters, using spectroscopically derived ages and HST imaging, confirms earlier suggestions that M31 has clusters similar to the LMC's young populous clusters.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, contributed talk at "Galaxies in the Local Volume" conference in Sydney, July 200

What fraction of stars formed in infrared galaxies at high redshift?

Star formation happens in two types of environment: ultraviolet-bright starbursts (like 30 Doradus and HII galaxies at low redshift and Lyman-break galaxies at high redshift) and infrared-bright dust-enshrouded regions (which may be moderately star-forming like Orion in the Galaxy or extreme like the core of Arp 220). In this work I will estimate how many of the stars in the local Universe formed in each type of environment, using observations of star-forming galaxies at all redshifts at different wavelengths and of the evolution of the field galaxy population.Comment: 7 pages, 0 figs, to appear in proceedings of "Starbursts - From 30 Doradus to Lyman break galaxies", edited by Richard de Grijs and Rosa M. Gonzalez Delgado, published by Kluwe

Collective effects of stellar winds and unidentified gamma-ray sources

We study collective wind configurations produced by a number of massive stars, and obtain densities and expansion velocities of the stellar wind gas that is to be target, in this model, of hadronic interactions. We study the expected $\gamma$-ray emission from these regions, considering in an approximate way the effect of cosmic ray modulation. We compute secondary particle production (electrons from knock-on interactions and electrons and positrons from charged pion decay), and solve the loss equation with ionization, synchrotron, bremsstrahlung, inverse Compton, and expansion losses. We provide examples where configurations can produce sources for GLAST satellite, and the MAGIC, HESS, or VERITAS telescopes in non-uniform ways, i.e., with or without the corresponding counterparts. We show that in all cases we studied no EGRET source is expected

Star Cluster Evolution: From young massive star clusters to old globulars

Young, massive star clusters are the most notable and significant end products of violent star-forming episodes triggered by galaxy collisions, mergers, and close encounters. The question remains, however, whether or not at least a fraction of the compact YMCs seen in abundance in extragalactic starbursts, are potentially the progenitors of globular cluster (GC)-type objects. However, because of the lack of a statistically significant sample of similar nearby objects we need to resort to either statistical arguments or to the painstaking approach of case by case studies of individual objects in more distant galaxies. Despite the difficulties inherent to addressing this issue conclusively, an ever increasing body of observational evidence lends support to the scenario that GCs, which were once thought to be the oldest building blocks of galaxies, are still forming today.Comment: 4 pages, to appear in "Globular Clusters - Guides to Galaxies", a conference held in Concepcion, Chile, March 200