Hierarchical formation of Westerlund 1: a collapsing cluster with no primordial mass segregation?
arXiv:1708.04161 · doi:10.1093/mnras/stx2098
Abstract
We examine the level of substructure and mass segregation in the massive, young cluster Westerlund 1. We find that it is relatively smooth, with little or no mass segregation, but with the massive stars in regions of significantly higher than average surface density. While an expanding or bouncing-back scenario for the evolution of Westerlund 1 cannot be ruled out, we argue that the most natural model to explain these observations is one in which Westerlund 1 formed with no primordial mass segregation and at a similar or larger size than we now observe.
Accepted for publication in MNRAS (11 pages, 4 figures)
References in corpus (15)
- A comprehensive set of simulations studying the influence of gas expulsion on star cluster evolution
- Radiation-Hydrodynamic Simulations of Collapse and Fragmentation in Massive Protostellar Cores
- Gas expulsion and the destruction of massive young clusters
- Dynamical mass segregation on a very short timescale
- Using the minimum spanning tree to trace mass segregation
- Intermediate to low-mass stellar content of Westerlund 1
- The formation of NGC 3603 young starburst cluster: "prompt" hierarchical assembly or monolithic starburst?
- Strong effect of the cluster environment on the size of protoplanetary discs?
- Dynamics versus structure: breaking the density degeneracy in star formation
- Comparisons between different techniques for measuring mass segregation
- Variability of Young Massive Stars in the Galactic Super Star Cluster Westerlund 1
- Primordial mass segregation in simulations of star formation?
- The impact of metallicity-dependent mass loss versus dynamical heating on the early evolution of star clusters
- On the Effects of Subvirial Initial Conditions and the Birth Temperature of R136
- No preferential spatial distribution for massive stars expected from their formation
Cited by in corpus (6)
- Star clusters near and far; tracing star formation across cosmic time
- The Physics of Star Cluster Formation and Evolution
- Nitrogen-enriched, highly-pressurized nebular clouds surrounding a super star cluster at cosmic noon
- Westerlund 1 under the light of Gaia EDR3: Distance, isolation, extent, and a hidden population
- Massive star cluster formation III. Early mass segregation during cluster assembly
- Structure and Dynamics of the Young Massive Star Cluster Westerlund 1