The central density of R136 in 30 Doradus

Abstract

The central density rho_0 of a stellar cluster is an important physical parameter for determining its evolutionary and dynamical state. How much mass segregation there is, or whether the cluster has undergone core collapse both depends on rho_0. We reanalyze the results of a previous paper that gives the mass density profile of R136 and combine them with both a conservative upper limit for the core parameter and a more uncertain recent measurement. We thus place a lower limit on rho_0 under reasonable and defensible assumptions about the IMF, finding rho_0 >~ 1.5x10^4 Msun/pc^3 for the conservative assumption a < 0.4 pc for the cluster core parameter. If we use the lower, but more uncertain value a = 0.025 pc, the central density estimate becomes greater than 10^7 Msun/pc^3. A mechanism based on the destruction of a large number of circumstellar disks is posited to explain the hitherto unexplained increase in reddening presented in that same work.

6 pages, 2 figures

References in corpus (2)

• The R136 star cluster hosts several stars whose individual masses greatly exceed the accepted 150 Msun stellar mass limit
• Exploring brown dwarf disks: A 1.3 mm survey in Taurus

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• Mergers all the way down: stellar collisions and kinematics of a dense hierarchically forming massive star cluster in a dwarf starburst
• NIR jets from a clustered region of massive star formation: Morphology and composition in the IRAS 18264-1152 region
• Dense clumps survive in the vicinity of R136 in 30 Doradus