4,156 research outputs found
The effect of stellar-mass black holes on the structural evolution of massive star clusters
We present the results of realistic N-body modelling of massive star clusters
in the Magellanic Clouds, aimed at investigating a dynamical origin for the
radius-age trend observed in these systems. We find that stellar-mass black
holes, formed in the supernova explosions of the most massive cluster stars,
can constitute a dynamically important population. If a significant number of
black holes are retained (here we assume complete retention), these objects
rapidly form a dense core where interactions are common, resulting in the
scattering of black holes into the cluster halo, and the ejection of black
holes from the cluster. These two processes heat the stellar component,
resulting in prolonged core expansion of a magnitude matching the observations.
Significant core evolution is also observed in Magellanic Cloud clusters at
early times. We find that this does not result from the action of black holes,
but can be reproduced by the effects of mass-loss due to rapid stellar
evolution in a primordially mass segregated cluster.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters; 2 figures, 1 tabl
Asymmetric supernova remnants generated by Galactic, massive runaway stars
After the death of a runaway massive star, its supernova shock wave interacts
with the bow shocks produced by its defunct progenitor, and may lose energy,
momentum, and its spherical symmetry before expanding into the local
interstellar medium (ISM). We investigate whether the initial mass and space
velocity of these progenitors can be associated with asymmetric supernova
remnants. We run hydrodynamical models of supernovae exploding in the
pre-shaped medium of moving Galactic core-collapse progenitors. We find that
bow shocks that accumulate more than about 1.5 Mo generate asymmetric remnants.
The shock wave first collides with these bow shocks 160-750 yr after the
supernova, and the collision lasts until 830-4900 yr. The shock wave is then
located 1.35-5 pc from the center of the explosion, and it expands freely into
the ISM, whereas in the opposite direction it is channelled into the region of
undisturbed wind material. This applies to an initially 20 Mo progenitor moving
with velocity 20 km/s and to our initially 40 Mo progenitor. These remnants
generate mixing of ISM gas, stellar wind and supernova ejecta that is
particularly important upstream from the center of the explosion. Their
lightcurves are dominated by emission from optically-thin cooling and by X-ray
emission of the shocked ISM gas. We find that these remnants are likely to be
observed in the [OIII] lambda 5007 spectral line emission or in the soft
energy-band of X-rays. Finally, we discuss our results in the context of
observed Galactic supernova remnants such as 3C391 and the Cygnus Loop.Comment: 21 pages, 16 figure
RR Lyrae stars in four globular clusters in the Fornax dwarf galaxy
(Abridged) We have surveyed four globular clusters in the Fornax dwarf galaxy
for RR Lyrae stars, using archival HST observations. We identify 197 new RR
Lyrae stars in these four clusters. Despite the short observational baseline,
we derive periods, light-curves, and photometric parameters for each. The
Fornax clusters have exceptionally large RR Lyrae specific frequencies compared
with the Galactic globular clusters. Furthermore, the Fornax cluster RR Lyrae
stars are unusual in that their characteristics are intermediate between the
two Galactic Oosterhoff groups. In this respect the Fornax clusters are similar
to the field populations in several dwarf galaxies. We revise previous
measurements of the HB morphology in each cluster. The Fornax clusters closely
resemble the ``young'' Galactic halo population defined by Zinn. The existence
of the second parameter effect among the Fornax clusters is also confirmed.
Finally, we determine foreground reddening and distance estimates for each
cluster. We find a mean distance modulus to Fornax of (m-M)_0 = 20.66 +/- 0.03
(random) +/- 0.15 (systematic). Our measurements are consistent with a line of
sight depth of 8-10 kpc for this galaxy, matching its projected dimensions, and
incompatible with tidal model explanations for the observed high velocity
dispersions in many dSph galaxies. Dark matter dominance is suggested.Comment: 26 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Table 2 and
Figure 2 will only be available in the electronic version. On-line data will
soon be available at http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/STELLARPOPS/Fornax_RRlyr
On the Exponentials of Some Structured Matrices
In this note explicit algorithms for calculating the exponentials of
important structured 4 x 4 matrices are provided. These lead to closed form
formulae for these exponentials. The techniques rely on one particular Clifford
Algebra isomorphism and basic Lie theory. When used in conjunction with
structure preserving similarities, such as Givens rotations, these techniques
extend to dimensions bigger than four.Comment: 19 page
Surface Brightness Profiles and Structural Parameters for 53 Rich Stellar Clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud
We have compiled a pseudo-snapshot data set of two-colour observations from
the Hubble Space Telescope archive for a sample of 53 rich LMC clusters with
ages 10^6-10^10 yr. We present surface brightness profiles for the entire
sample, and derive structural parameters for each cluster, including core
radii, and luminosity and mass estimates. Because we expect the results
presented here to form the basis for several further projects, we describe in
detail the data reduction and surface brightness profile construction
processes, and compare our results with those of previous ground-based studies.
The surface brightness profiles show a large amount of detail, including
irregularities in the profiles of young clusters (such as bumps, dips, and
sharp shoulders), and evidence for both double clusters and post core-collapse
(PCC) clusters. In particular we find power-law profiles in the inner regions
of several candidate PCC clusters, with slopes of approximately -0.7, but
showing considerable variation. We estimate that 20 +/- 7 % of the old cluster
population of the LMC has entered PCC evolution, a similar fraction to that for
the Galactic globular cluster system. In addition, we examine the profile of
R136 in detail and show that it is probably not a PCC cluster. We also observe
a trend in core radius with age that has been discovered and discussed in
several previous publications by different authors. Our diagram has better
resolution however, and appears to show a bifurcation at several hundred Myr.
We argue that this observed relationship reflects true physical evolution in
LMC clusters, with some experiencing small scale core expansion due to mass
loss, and others large scale expansion due to some unidentified characteristic
or physical process.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 24 pages plus 16 figures and 9
pages of profiles. We strongly recommend that the interested reader visit
http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/STELLARPOPS/LMC_clusters/ for on-line data and the
full resolution pape
Evidence of the inhomogeneity of the stellar population in the differentially reddened globular cluster NGC 3201
We report on evidence of the inhomogeneity (multiplicity) of the stellar
population in the Galactic globular cluster (GC) NGC 3201, which is irregularly
reddened across its face. We carried out a more detailed and careful analysis
of our recently published new multi-color photometry in a wide field of the
cluster with particular emphasis on the U band. Using the photometric data
corrected for differential reddening, we found for the first time two key signs
of the inhomogeneity in the cluster's stellar population and of its radial
variation in the GC. These are (1) an obvious trend in the color-position
diagram, based on the (U-B) color-index, of red giant branch (RGB) stars, which
shows that the farther from the cluster's center, the bluer on average the
(U-B) color of the stars is; and (2) the dependence of the radial distribution
of sub-giant branch (SGB) stars in the cluster on their U magnitude, where
brighter stars are less centrally concentrated than their fainter counterparts
at a confidence level varying between 99.2% and 99.9% depending on the
color-index used to select the stars. The same effects were recently found by
us in the GC NGC 1261. However, contrary to NGC 1261, we are not able to
unambiguously suggest which of the sub-populations of SGB/RGB stars can be the
progenitor of blue and red horizontal branch stars of the cluster. Apart from
M4, NGC 3201 is another GC very probably with an inhomogeneous stellar
population, which has essentially lower mass than the most massive Galactic GCs
where multiple stellar populations were unambiguously detected for the first
timeComment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Black holes and core expansion in massive star clusters
We present the results from realistic N-body modelling of massive star
clusters in the Magellanic Clouds. We have computed eight simulations with N ~
10^5 particles; six of these were evolved for at least a Hubble time. The aim
of this modelling is to examine the possibility of large-scale core expansion
in massive star clusters and search for a viable dynamical origin for the
radius-age trend observed for such objects in the Magellanic Clouds. We
identify two physical processes which can lead to significant and prolonged
cluster core expansion: mass-loss due to rapid stellar evolution in a
primordially mass segregated cluster, and heating due to a retained population
of stellar-mass black holes. These two processes operate over different
time-scales - the former occurs only at early times and cannot drive core
expansion for longer than a few hundred Myr, while the latter typically does
not begin until several hundred Myr have passed but can result in core
expansion lasting for many Gyr. We investigate the behaviour of these expansion
mechanisms in clusters with varying degrees of primordial mass segregation and
in clusters with varying black hole retention fractions. In combination, the
two processes can lead to a wide variety of evolutionary paths on the
radius-age plane, which fully cover the observed cluster distribution and hence
define a dynamical origin for the radius-age trend in the Magellanic Clouds. We
discuss the implications of core expansion for various aspects of globular
cluster research, as well as the possibility of observationally inferring the
presence of a population of stellar-mass black holes in a cluster.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
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