The Missing Link in Star Cluster Evolution

Abstract

The currently most popular models for the dynamical evolution of star clusters predict that the power-law Cluster Luminosity Functions (CLFs) of young star cluster systems will be transformed rapidly into the universal Gaussian CLFs of old Milky Way-type "globular" cluster systems. Here, we provide the first evidence for a turn-over in the intermediate-age, approximately 1 Gyr-old CLF in the center of the nearby starburst galaxy M82, which very closely matches the universal CLFs of old Milky Way-type globular cluster systems. This provides an important test of both cluster disruption theories and hierarchical galaxy formation models. It also lends strong support to the scenario that these young cluster systems may eventually evolve into old Milky Way-type globular cluster systems. M82's proximity, its shortest known cluster disruption time-scale of any galaxy, and its well-defined peak of cluster formation make it an ideal candidate to probe the evolution of its star cluster system to fainter luminosities, and thus lower masses, than has been possible for any galaxy before.

accepted for publication in the ApJ Letters; 10 pages in AASTEX preprint format; including 2 postscript figures

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• Star-Forming Galaxies at z~2 and the Formation of the Metal-Rich Globular Cluster Population
• The early evolution of the star cluster mass function
• Star Cluster Formation and Evolution in Nearby Starburst Galaxies: I. Systematic Uncertainties
• Deep Luminosity Functions of Old and Intermediate-Age Globular Clusters in NGC 1316: Evidence for Dynamical Evolution of Second-Generation Globular Clusters
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• The Extended Main-Sequence Turn-off Clusters of the Large Magellanic Cloud - Missing links in Globular Cluster Evolution
• A new red giant-based distance modulus of 13.3 Mpc to the Antennae galaxies and its consequences
• The Star Cluster population of NGC 5253
• HST/ACS imaging of M82: A comparison of mass and size distribution functions of the younger nuclear and older disk clusters
• The Young Cluster Population of M82 Region B
• The K-band luminosity functions of super star clusters in luminous infrared galaxies, their slopes, and the effects of blending
• The initial mass distribution of the M82 star cluster system
• The Young Star Cluster System in the Antennae: Evidence for a Turnover in the luminosity function
• From young massive star cluster to old globular: the L_V-sigma_0 relationship as a diagnostic tool
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• CIRPASS near-infrared integral-field spectroscopy of massive star clusters in the starburst galaxy NGC 1140
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• Gemini Spectroscopy and HST Imaging of the Stellar Cluster Population in Region B of M82
• Extragalactic Globular Clusters in the Near Infrared: IV. Quantifying the Age Structure using Monte-Carlo Simulations
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• Arp 116: Interacting System or Chance Alignment?
• Starbirth in Galaxy Collisions
• Star Cluster Evolution: From young massive star clusters to old globulars
• From nuclear clusters to halo globulars: Star clusters as basic galactic building blocks
• Star and cluster formation in extreme environments