The time-scale of escape from star clusters
Abstract In this paper a cluster is modelled as a smooth potential (due to the cluster stars) plus the steady tidal field of the Galaxy. In this model there is a minimum energy below which stars cannot escape. Above this energy, however, the time-scale on which a star escapes varies with the orbital...
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Published in | Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Vol. 318; no. 3; pp. 753 - 761 |
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Main Authors | , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Oxford, UK
Blackwell Science Ltd
01.11.2000
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Abstract
In this paper a cluster is modelled as a smooth potential (due to the cluster stars) plus the steady tidal field of the Galaxy. In this model there is a minimum energy below which stars cannot escape. Above this energy, however, the time-scale on which a star escapes varies with the orbital parameters of the star (mainly its energy) in a way which we attempt to quantify, with both theoretical arguments and computer simulations. Within the limitations of the model we show that the time-scale is long enough to complicate the interpretation of full N-body simulations of clusters, and that stars above the escape energy may remain bound to the cluster for about a Hubble time. |
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Bibliography: | ark:/67375/WNG-LNZBHNB6-8 ArticleID:MNR3811 istex:5BA346D0B1B8B4B3DC75C2B5016945D6FD1F4B55 ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0035-8711 1365-2966 |
DOI: | 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2000.03811.x |