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Star cluster evolution in the Magellanic Clouds revisited

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2008

Richard de Grijs  and
Simon P. Goodwin
Richard de Grijs
Affiliation:
Department of Physics & Astronomy, The University of Sheffield, Hicks Building, Hounsfield Road, Sheffield S3 7RH, UK email: [email protected], [email protected] National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 20A Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100012, China
Simon P. Goodwin
Affiliation:
Department of Physics & Astronomy, The University of Sheffield, Hicks Building, Hounsfield Road, Sheffield S3 7RH, UK email: [email protected], [email protected]
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Abstract

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The evolution of star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds has been the subject of significant recent controversy, particularly regarding the importance and length of the earliest, largely mass-independent disruption phase (referred to as “infant mortality”). Here, we take a fresh approach to the problem, using a large, independent, and homogeneous data set of UBVR imaging observations, from which we obtain the cluster age and mass distributions in both the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC, SMC) in a self-consistent manner. We conclude that the (optically selected) SMC star cluster population has undergone at most ~30% (1σ) infant mortality between the age range from about 3–10 Myr, to that of approximately 40–160 Myr. We rule out a 90% cluster mortality rate per decade of age (for the full age range up to 109 yr) at a > 6σ level. Using a simple approach, we derive a “characteristic” cluster disruption time-scale for the cluster population in the LMC that implies that we are observing the initial cluster mass function (CMF). Preliminary results suggest that the LMC cluster population may be affected by <10% infant mortality.

Keywords

globular clusters: generalopen clusters and associations: generalgalaxies: evolutionMagellanic Cloudsgalaxies: star clusters
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 4 , Symposium S256: The Magellanic System: Stars, Gas, and Galaxies , July 2008 , pp. 311 - 316
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2009

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