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Formation of Globular Clusters in Galaxy Mergers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2016

Kenji Bekki ,
Warrick J. Couch ,
Duncan A. Forbes  and
M. A. Beasley
Kenji Bekki
Affiliation:
School of Physics, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
Warrick J. Couch
Affiliation:
School of Physics, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
Duncan A. Forbes
Affiliation:
Centre for Astrophysics & Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC, 3122, Australia
M. A. Beasley
Affiliation:
Centre for Astrophysics & Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC, 3122, Australia

Abstract

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Our numerical simulations first demonstrate that the pressure of ISM in a major merger becomes so high (> 105 kB K cm-3) that GMCs in the merger can collapse to form globular clusters (GCs) within a few Myr. The star formation efficiency within a GMC in galaxy mergers can rise up from a few percent to ~ 80 percent, depending on the shapes and the temperature of the GMC. This implosive GC formation due to external high pressure of warm/hot ISM can be more efficient in the tidal tails or the central regions of mergers. The developed clusters have King-like profiles with an effective radius of a few pc. The structural, kinematical, and chemical properties of these GC systems can depend on the orbital and chemical properties of major mergers.

Type
JD6: Extragalactic Globular Clusters & Their Host Galaxies
Information
Highlights of Astronomy , Volume 13 , 2005 , pp. 191 - 192
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of Pacific 2005

References

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