Co-moving groups around massive stars in the nuclear stellar disk
Context. Over the last ∼30 Myr, the nuclear stellar disk in the Galactic center has been the most prolific star-forming region of the Milky Way when averaged by volume. Remarkably, the combined mass of the only three clusters present today in the nuclear stellar disk adds up to only ∼10% of the tota...
| Autores: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2024 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repositorio: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.csic.es:10261/388836 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/388836 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Proper motions Galaxy: center Galaxy: structure Infrared: general |
| Sumario: | Context. Over the last ∼30 Myr, the nuclear stellar disk in the Galactic center has been the most prolific star-forming region of the Milky Way when averaged by volume. Remarkably, the combined mass of the only three clusters present today in the nuclear stellar disk adds up to only ∼10% of the total expected mass of young stars formed in this period. Several causes could explain this apparent absence of clusters and stellar associations. The stellar density in the area is so high that only the most massive clusters would be detectable against the dense background of stars. The extreme tidal forces reigning in the Galactic center could dissolve even the most massive of the clusters in just a few megayears. Close encounters with one of the massive molecular clouds, which are abundant in the nuclear stellar disk, can also rapidly make any massive cluster or stellar association dissolve beyond recognition. However, traces of some dissolving young clusters and associations could still be detectable as co-moving groups. |
|---|