The M/L ratio of massive young star clusters in galactic mergers - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue The Astrophysical Journal Année : 2005

The M/L ratio of massive young star clusters in galactic mergers

Résumé

We point out a strong time-evolution of the mass-to-light conversion factor \\eta commonly used to estimate masses of dense star clusters from observed cluster radii and stellar velocity dispersions. We use a gas-dynamical model coupled with the Cambridge stellar evolution tracks to compute line-of-sight velocity dispersions and half-light radii weighted by the luminosity. Stars at birth are assumed to follow the Salpeter mass function in the range [0.15--17 M_\\sun]. We find that $\\eta$, and hence the estimated cluster mass, increases by factors as large as 3 over time-scales of 20 million years. Increasing the upper mass limit to $50 M_\\sun$ leads to a sharp rise of similar amplitude but in as little as 10 million years. Fitting truncated isothermal (Michie-King) models to the projected light profile leads to over-estimates of the concentration par ameter c of $\\delta c\\approx 0.3$ compared to the same functional fit applied to the proj ected mass density.

Dates et versions

hal-00010072 , version 1 (07-10-2005)

Identifiants

Citer

C. M. Boily, A. Lançon, S. Deiters, D. C. Heggie. The M/L ratio of massive young star clusters in galactic mergers. The Astrophysical Journal, 2005, 620, pp.L27-L30. ⟨hal-00010072⟩
11 Consultations
0 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More