Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-mp689 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T13:21:48.568Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Young stars in the Galactic center

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2014

Jessica R. Lu ,
Andrea M. Ghez ,
Mark R. Morris ,
Will Clarkson ,
Andrea Stolte ,
Tuan Do ,
Sylvana Yelda  and
Jay Anderson
Jessica R. Lu
Affiliation:
Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, USA, HI 96822 email: jlu@ifa.hawaii.edu
Andrea M. Ghez
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Mark R. Morris
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Will Clarkson
Affiliation:
Indiana University, Bloomington, USA
Andrea Stolte
Affiliation:
Argelander Institut fur Astronomie, Germany
Tuan Do
Affiliation:
Dunlap Institute, Unversity of Toronto, Canada
Sylvana Yelda
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Jay Anderson
Affiliation:
Space Telescope Science Institute, USA
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The central parsec of our Galaxy hosts not only a supermassive black hole, but also a large population of young stars (age <6 Myr) whose presence is puzzling given how inhospitable the region is for star formation. The strong tidal forces require gas densities many orders of magnitude higher than is found in typical molecular clouds. Kinematic observations of this young nuclear cluster show complex structures, including a well-defined inner disk, but also a substantial off-disk population. Spectroscopic and photometric measurements indicate the initial mass function (IMF) differs significantly from the canonical IMF found in the solar neighborhood. These observations have led to a number of proposed star formation scenarios, such as an infalling massive star cluster, a single infalling molecular cloud, or cloud-cloud collisions. I will review recent works on the young stars in the central parsec and discuss connections with young nuclear star clusters in other galaxies, such as M31, and with star formation in the larger central molecular zone.

Keywords

star formationGalactic center
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 9 , Symposium S303: The Galactic Center: Feeding and Feedback in a Normal Galactic Nucleus , October 2013 , pp. 211 - 219
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2014 

References

Alexander, R. D., Armitage, P. J., Cuadra, J., & Begelman, M. C. 2008, ApJ, 674, 927Google Scholar
Alexander, R. D., Begelman, M. C., & Armitage, P. J. 2007, ApJ, 654, 907Google Scholar
Allen, D. A., Hyland, A. R., & Hillier, D. J. 1990, MNRAS, 244, 706Google Scholar
Bartko, H., et al. 2009, ApJ, 697, 1741Google Scholar
Bartko, H., et al. 2010, ApJ, 708, 834Google Scholar
Berukoff, S. J. & Hansen, B. M. S. 2006, ApJ, 650, 901CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blum, R. D., Depoy, D. L., & Sellgren, K. 1995, ApJ, 441, 603Google Scholar
Bonnell, I. A. & Rice, W. K. M. 2008, Science, 321, 1060CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarkson, W. I., Ghez, A. M., Morris, M. R., Lu, J. R., Stolte, A., McCrady, N., Do, T., & Yelda, S. 2012, ApJ, 751, 132Google Scholar
Cotera, A. S., Erickson, E. F., Colgan, S. W. J., Simpson, J. P., Allen, D. A., & Burton, M. G. 1996, ApJ, 461, 750Google Scholar
Cuadra, J., Armitage, P. J., & Alexander, R. D. 2008, MNRAS, 388, L64CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Do, T., Ghez, A. M., Morris, M. R., Lu, J. R., Matthews, K., Yelda, S., & Larkin, J. 2009, ApJ, 703, 1323Google Scholar
Do, T., Lu, J. R., Ghez, A. M., Morris, M. R., Yelda, S., Martinez, G. D., Wright, S. A., & Matthews, K. 2013, ApJ, 764, 154Google Scholar
Espinoza, P., Selman, F. J., & Melnick, J. 2009, A&A, 501, 563Google Scholar
Figer, D. F., McLean, I. S., & Morris, M. 1999, ApJ, 514, 202CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Genzel, R., Pichon, C., Eckart, A., Gerhard, O. E., & Ott, T. 2000, MNRAS, 317, 348CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Genzel, R., et al. 2003, ApJ, 594, 812CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gerhard, O. 2001, ApJ Lett., 546, L39Google Scholar
Ghez, A. M., et al. 2003, ApJ Lett., 586, L127CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Habibi, M., Stolte, A., Brandner, W., Hußmann, B., & Motohara, K. 2013, A&A, 556, A26Google Scholar
Haisch, K. E. Jr., Lada, E. A., & Lada, C. J. 2001, ApJ Lett., 553, L153CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harayama, Y., Eisenhauer, F., & Martins, F. 2008, ApJ, 675, 1319CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hernández, J., et al. 2007, ApJ, 662, 1067CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobbs, A., & Nayakshin, S. 2009, MNRAS, 394, 191CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hußmann, B. 2014, PhD thesis, Ph.D.thesis, University of Bonn (2014)Google Scholar
Hußmann, B., Stolte, A., Brandner, W., Gennaro, M., & Liermann, A. 2012, A&A, 540, A57Google Scholar
Krabbe, A., Genzel, R., Drapatz, S., & Rotaciuc, V. 1991, ApJ Lett., 382, L19Google Scholar
Krabbe, A., et al. 1995, ApJ Lett., 447, L95Google Scholar
Levin, Y. 2007, MNRAS, 374, 515Google Scholar
Levin, Y., & Beloborodov, A. M. 2003, ApJ Lett., 590, L33CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liermann, A., Hamann, W.-R., & Oskinova, L. M. 2012, A&A, 540, A14Google Scholar
Lin, D. N. C., & Pringle, J. E. 1987, MNRAS, 225, 607CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Löckmann, U., Baumgardt, H., & Kroupa, P. 2009, MNRAS, 398, 429CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lu, J. R., Do, T., Ghez, A. M., Morris, M. R., Yelda, S., & Matthews, K. 2013, ApJ, 764, 155CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lu, J. R., Ghez, A. M., Hornstein, S. D., Morris, M. R., Becklin, E. E., & Matthews, K. 2009, ApJ, 690, 1463CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mapelli, M., Hayfield, T., Mayer, L., & Wadsley, J. 2012, ApJ, 749, 168Google Scholar
Martins, F., Hillier, D. J., Paumard, T., Eisenhauer, F., Ott, T., & Genzel, R. 2008, A&A, 478, 219Google Scholar
Nagata, T., Woodward, C. E., Shure, M., & Kobayashi, N. 1995, AJ, 109, 1676Google Scholar
Najarro, F., Figer, D. F., Hillier, D. J., & Kudritzki, R. P. 2004, ApJ Lett., 611, L105Google Scholar
Najarro, F., Krabbe, A., Genzel, R., Lutz, D., Kudritzki, R. P., & Hillier, D. J. 1997, A&A, 325, 700Google Scholar
Nayakshin, S. 2006, MNRAS, 372, 143CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nayakshin, S., & Cuadra, J. 2005, A&A, 437, 437Google Scholar
Paumard, T., et al. 2006, ApJ, 643, 1011Google Scholar
Stolte, A., Brandner, W., Brandl, B., & Zinnecker, H. 2006, AJ, 132, 253Google Scholar
Stolte, A., Brandner, W., Grebel, E. K., Lenzen, R., & Lagrange, A.-M. 2005, ApJ Lett., 628, L113CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stolte, A., Ghez, A. M., Morris, M., Lu, J. R., Brandner, W., & Matthews, K. 2008, ApJ, 675, 1278Google Scholar
Stolte, A., Morris, M., Ghez, A., Clarkson, W., Hussmann, B., McCrady, N., Lu, J. R., & Matthews, K. 2011, in Stellar Clusters and Associations: A RIA Workshop on Gaia, 304–308Google Scholar
Stolte, A., et al. 2010, ApJ, 718, 810Google Scholar
Tamblyn, P., Rieke, G. H., Hanson, M. M., Close, L. M., McCarthy, D. W., & Rieke, M. J. 1996, ApJ, 456, 206Google Scholar
Wardle, M. & Yusef-Zadeh, F. 2008, ApJ Lett., 683, L37Google Scholar
Yelda, S., Ghez, A. M., Lu, J. R., Do, T., Meyer, L., Morris, M. R., & Matthews, K. 2013, submittedGoogle Scholar