No Arabic abstract
In this paper we present the results of two detailed N-body simulations of the interaction of a sample of four massive globular clusters in the inner region of a triaxial galaxy. A full merging of the clusters takes place, leading to a slowly evolving cluster which is quite similar to observed Nuclear Clusters. Actually, both the density and the velocity dispersion profiles match qualitatively, and quantitatively after scaling, with observed features of many nucleated galaxies. In the case of dense initial clusters, the merger remnant shows a density profile more concentrated than that of the progenitors, with a central density higher than the sum of the central progenitors central densities. These findings support the idea that a massive Nuclear Cluster may have formed in early phases of the mother galaxy evolution and lead to the formation of a nucleus, which, in many galaxies, has indeed a luminosity profile similar to that of an extended King model. A correlation with galactic nuclear activity is suggested.
The main topic of this paper is the investigation of the modes of interaction of globular clusters (GCs) moving in the inner part of a galaxy. This is tackled by means of high-resolution N-body simulations, whose first results are presented in this article. Our simulations dealt with primordial very massive (order of 10^7 solar masses) GCs that were able to decay, because of dynamical friction, into the inner regions of triaxial galaxies on a time much shorter than their internal relaxation time. To check the disruptive role of both tidal forces and GC-GC collisions, we maximised the tidal interaction considering GCs on quasi-radial orbits. The available CPU resources allowed us to follow 8 oscillations of the GCs along their orbits and the main findings are: i) clusters with an initial high enough King concentration parameter (c>=1.2), preserve up to 50% of their initial mass; ii) the inner density distribution of the survived clusters keep a King model profile; iii) GC-GC collisions have a negligible effect with respect to that caused by the passage through the galactic center; iv) the orbital energy dissipation due to the tidal interaction is of the same order of that caused by dynamical friction; v) complex sub-structures like ripples and clumps formed, as observed around real clusters. These findings support the validity of the hypothesis of merging of GCs in the galactic central region, with modes that deserve further careful investigations.
We present the results of detailed N-body simulations regarding the interaction of four massive globular clusters in the central region of a triaxial galaxy. The systems undergo a full merging event, producing a sort of Super Star Cluster (SSC) whose features are close to those of a superposition of the individual initial mergers. In contrast with other similar simulations, the resulting SSC structural parameters are located along the observed scaling relations of globular clusters. These findings seem to support the idea that a massive SSC may have formed in early phases of the mother galaxy evolution and contributed to the growth of a massive nucleus.
(Abridged) Using luminosities and structural parameters of globular clusters (GCs) in the nuclear regions (nGCs) of low-mass dwarf galaxies from HST/ACS imaging we derive the present-day escape velocities (v_esc) of stellar ejecta to reach the cluster tidal radius and compare them with those of Galactic GCs with extended (hot) horizontal branches (EHBs-GCs). For EHB-GCs, we find a correlation between the present-day v_esc and their metallicity as well as (V-I)_0 colour. The similar v_esc, (V-I)_0 distribution of nGCs and EHB-GCs implies that nGCs could also have complex stellar populations. The v_esc-[Fe/H] relation could reflect the known relation of increasing stellar wind velocity with metallicity, which in turn could explain why more metal-poor clusters typically show more peculiarities in their stellar population than more metal-rich clusters of the same mass do. Thus the cluster v_esc can be used as parameter to describe the degree of self-enrichment. The nGCs populate the same Mv vs. rh region as EHB-GCs, although they do not reach the sizes of the largest EHB-GCs like wCen and NGC 2419. We argue that during accretion the rh of an nGC could increase due to significant mass loss in the cluster vicinity and the resulting drop in the external potential in the core once the dwarf galaxy dissolves. Our results support the scenario in which Galactic EHB-GCs have originated in the centres of pre-Galactic building blocks or dwarf galaxies that were later accreted by the Milky Way.
One of the aims of LSST is to perform a systematic survey of star clusters and star forming regions (SFRs) in our Galaxy. In particular, the observations obtained with LSST will make a big difference in Galactic regions that have been poorly studied in the past, such as the anticenter and the disk beyond the Galactic center, and they will have a strong impact in discovering new distant SFRs. These results can be achieved by exploiting the exquisite depth that will be attained if the wide-fast-deep (WFD) observing strategy of the main survey is also adopted for the Galactic plane, in the g, r, and i filters.
Cluster formation and gas dynamics in the central regions of barred galaxies are not well understood. This paper reviews the environment of three 10^7 Msun clusters near the inner Lindblad resonance of the barred spiral NGC 1365. The morphology, mass, and flow of HI and CO gas in the spiral and barred regions are examined for evidence of the location and mechanism of cluster formation. The accretion rate is compared with the star formation rate to infer the lifetime of the starburst. The gas appears to move from inside corotation in the spiral region to looping filaments in the interbar region at a rate of ~6 Msun/yr before impacting the bar dustlane somewhere along its length. The gas in this dustlane moves inward, growing in flux as a result of the accretion to ~40 Msun/yr near the ILR. This inner rate exceeds the current nuclear star formation rate by a factor of 4, suggesting continued buildup of nuclear mass for another ~0.5 Gyr. The bar may be only 1-2 Gyr old. Extrapolating the bar flow back in time, we infer that the clusters formed in the bar dustlane outside the central dust ring at a position where an interbar filament currently impacts the lane. The ram pressure from this impact is comparable to the pressure in the bar dustlane, and both are comparable to the pressure in the massive clusters. Impact triggering is suggested. The isothermal assumption in numerical simulations seems inappropriate for the rare fraction parts of spiral and bar gas flows. The clusters have enough lower-mass counterparts to suggest they are part of a normal power law mass distribution. Gas trapping in the most massive clusters could explain their [NeII] emission, which is not evident from the lower-mass clusters nearby.