2006/06/30 by H. J. G. L. M. Lamers, Henny J. G. L. M. Lamers, M. Gieles +1 · 4 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Cluster (spacecraft) #Scaling #Solar mass #Spiral galaxy #Star cluster #Star formation #Stars #Stellar evolution #Stellar mass #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20065567
Accepted for A&A Letters, 5 pages, 3 figures
arxiv created 2006/06/30 · openalex publication_date 2006/08/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · arxiv updated 2016/08/30 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
We predict the survival time of initially bound star clusters in the solar neighbourhood taking into account: (1) stellar evolution, (2) tidal stripping, (3) shocking by spiral arms and (4) encounters with giant molecular clouds. We find that the predicted dissolution time is Mi Gyr for clusters in the mass range of Mi. The resulting predicted shape of the logarithmic age distribution agrees very well with the empirical one, derived from a complete sample of clusters in the solar neighbourhood within 600 pc. The required scaling factor implies a star formation rate of 4 102 Myr-1 within 600 pc from the Sun or a surface formation rate of 3.5 10-10 yr-1 pc-2 for stars in bound clusters with an initial mass in the range of 102 to 3 104 .