Search

HEX-P is a probe-class mission concept that will combine high spatial resolution X-ray imaging (

The application of clustering algorithms to the Gaia astrometric catalog has revolutionized our census of stellar populations in the milky Way, including the discovery of many new dispersed structures. We focus on one such structure, Theia 456 (COIN-Gaia-13), a loosely bound collection of ∼320 stars spanning ∼120 pc that has previously been shown to exhibit kinematic, chemical, and gyrochronal coherency, indicating a common origin. We obtain follow-up radial velocities and supplement these with Gaia astrometry to perform an in-depth dynamical analysis of Theia 456. By integrating stellar orbits through a Milky Way potential, we find the currently dispersed structure coalesced into a small cluster in the past. Via Bayesian modeling, we derive a kinematic age of 245 ± 3 Myr (statistical), a half-mass–radius of 9 ± 2 pc, and an initial one-dimensional velocity dispersion of 0.14 ± 0.02 km s ^−1 . Our results are entirely independent of model isochrones, details of stellar evolution, and internal cluster dynamics, and the statistical precision in our age derivation rivals that of the most precise age-dating techniques known today, though our imperfect knowledge of the Milky Way potential and simple spherical model for Theia 456 at birth add additional uncertainties. Using posterior predictive checking, we confirm these results are robust under reasonable variations to the Milky Way potential. Such low-density structures that are disrupted by the Galactic tides before virializing may be ubiquitous, signifying that Theia 456 is a valuable benchmark for studying the dynamical history of stellar populations in the Milky Way.

We investigate the evolutionary stages of four open clusters—Berkeley 39, Collinder 261, NGC 6819, and NGC 7789—of ages ranging from 1.6 to 6 Gyr. These clusters have previously been classified into dynamically young and intermediate age groups based on the segregation level of BSS with respect to red-giant-branch stars and main-sequence stars, respectively. We identify members of these four clusters using the ML-MOC algorithm on Gaia DR3 data. To examine the relative segregation of cluster members of different evolutionary stages, we utilize cumulative radial distributions, proper motion distributions, and spatial distributions in galactocentric coordinates. Our analysis shows that Berkeley 39 and NGC 6819 exhibit moderate signs of population-wise segregation from evolved to less-evolved members. NGC 7789 shows signs of mass segregation only in the cumulative radial distributions. On the other hand, Collinder 261 exhibits high segregation of BSS in the cumulative radial distribution, while other populations show the same level of segregation.

We present a detailed near-infrared study of an embedded cluster located in the hub of the giant molecular cloud G148.24+00.41 of mass ∼10 ^5 M _⊙ , with the TANSPEC instrument mounted on the 3.6 m Devasthal Optical Telescope. The hub is located near the geometric center of the cloud and represents its most massive clump. We studied the central 2 pc × 2 pc area of the hub with 5 σ limiting magnitudes of 20.5, 20.1, and 18.6 mag in the J , H , and K _s bands, respectively. Using the K _s - band luminosity function and comparing it with the synthetic clusters, we obtained the age of the cluster as ∼0.5 Myr, which was found to corroborate well with the visual extinction versus the age of nearby embedded clusters. We find that the present mass of the cluster is around ∼180 M _⊙ , and the cluster is currently forming stars at a rate of ∼330 M _⊙ Myr ^−1 , with an efficiency of ∼20%. The cluster is connected to an extended gas reservoir through a filamentary network; thus, we hypothesize that the cluster has the potential to become a richer cluster in a few Myr of time.

The volumetric rate of tidal disruption events (TDEs) encodes information on the still-unknown demographics of central massive black holes (MBHs) in low-mass galaxies (≲10 ^9 M _⊙ ). Theoretical TDE rates from model galaxy samples can extract this information, but this requires accurately defining the nuclear stellar density structures. This region is typically dominated by nuclear star clusters (NSCs), which have been shown to increase TDE rates by orders of magnitude. Thus, we assemble the largest available sample of parsec-scale 3D density profiles that include NSC components. We deproject the point-spread-function-deconvolved surface-brightness profiles of 91 nearby galaxies of varying morphology and combine these with nuclear mass-to-light ratios estimated from measured colors or spectral synthesis to create 3D mass density profiles. We fit the inner 3D density profile to find the best-fit power-law density profile in each galaxy. We compile this information as a function of galaxy stellar mass to fit new empirical density scaling relations. These fits reveal positive correlations between galaxy stellar mass and central stellar density in both early- and late-type galaxies. We find that early-type galaxies have somewhat higher densities and shallower profiles relative to late-type galaxies at the same mass. We also use the density profiles to estimate the influence radius of each galaxy’s MBH and find that the sphere of influence was likely resolved in most cases. These new relations will be used in future works to build mock galaxy samples for dynamical TDE rate calculations, with the aim of constraining MBH demographics in low-mass galaxies.

We aim to investigate the global star formation scenario in star-forming sites AFGL 5157, [FSR2007] 0807 (hereafter FSR0807), [HKS2019] E70 (hereafter E70), [KPS2012] MWSC 0620 (hereafter KPS0620), and IRAS 05331+3115 in the outer Galactic arm. The distribution of young stellar objects in these sites coincides with a higher extinction and H _2 column density, which agrees with the notion that star formation occurs inside the dense molecular cloud cores. We have found two molecular structures at different velocities in this direction; one contains AFGL 5157 and FSR0807, and the other contains E70, [KPS2012] MWSC 0620, and IRAS 05331+3115. All these clusters in our target region are in different evolutionary stages and might form stars through different mechanisms. The E70 cluster seems to be the oldest in our sample; AFGL 5157 and FSR0807 formed later, and KPS0620 and IRAS 05331+3115 are the youngest sites. AFGL 5157 and FSR0807 are physically connected and have cold filamentary structures and dense hub regions. Additionally, the near-infrared photometric analysis shows signatures of massive star formation in these sites. KPS0620 also seems to have cold filamentary structures with the central hub but lacks signatures of massive stars. Our analysis suggests molecular gas flow and the hub filamentary star formation scenario in these regions. IRAS 05331+3115 is a single clump of molecular gas favoring low-mass star formation. Our study suggests that the selected area is a menagerie of star-forming sites where the formation of the stars happens through different processes.

We measure the high-mass stellar initial mass function (IMF) from resolved stars in M33 young stellar clusters. Leveraging the Hubble Space Telescope’s high resolving power, we fully model the IMF probabilistically. We first model the optical color–magnitude diagram of each cluster to constrain its power-law slope Γ, marginalized over other cluster parameters in the fit (e.g., cluster age, mass, and radius). We then probabilistically model the distribution of mass function (MF) slopes for a highly strict cluster sample of nine clusters more massive than log(Mass/ M _⊙ ) = 3.6; above this mass, all clusters have well-populated main sequences of massive stars and should have accurate recovery of their MF slopes, based on extensive tests with artificial clusters. We find that the ensemble IMF is best described by a mean high-mass slope of $\overline{{\rm{\Gamma }}}=1.49\pm 0.18$ , with an intrinsic scatter of ${\sigma }_{{\rm{\Gamma }}}^{2}={0.02}_{0.00}^{+0.16}$ , consistent with a universal IMF. We find no dependence of the IMF on environmental impacts such as the local star formation rate (SFR) or galactocentric radius within M33, which serves as a proxy for metallicity. This $\overline{{\rm{\Gamma }}}$ measurement is consistent with similar measurements in M31, despite M33 having a much higher SFR intensity. While this measurement is formally consistent with the canonical Kroupa (Γ = 1.30) IMF, as well as the Salpeter (Γ = 1.35) value, it is the second Local Group cluster sample to show evidence for a somewhat steeper high-mass IMF slope. We explore the impacts a steeper IMF slope has on a number of astronomical subfields.

We have developed a novel method of determining 2D radial density profiles for astronomical systems of discrete objects using Voronoi tessellations. This Voronoi-based method was tested against the standard annulus-based method on five simulated systems of objects, following known Hubble density profiles of varying parameters and sizes. It was found that the Voronoi-based method returned radial density fits with lower uncertainties on the fitting parameters across all five systems compared to the annulus-based method. The Voronoi-based method also consistently returned more accurate estimates of the total number of objects in each system than the annulus-based method, and this accuracy increased with increasing system size. Finally, the Voronoi-based method was applied to two observed globular cluster systems around brightest cluster galaxies ESO 444-G046 and 2MASX J13272961-3123237 and the results were compared to previous results for these galaxies obtained with the annulus-based method. Again, it was found that the Voronoi-based method returned fits with lower uncertainties on the fitting parameters, and the total number of globular clusters returned are within errors of the annulus-based method estimates, however also with lower uncertainties.

Using the Systematically Measuring Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies and Sloan Digital Sky Survey catalogs and our own reprocessing of the Legacy Survey imaging, we investigate the properties of nuclear star clusters (NSCs) in galaxies having central surface brightnesses as low as 27 mag arcsec ^−2 . We identify 273 (123 with known redshift) and 32 NSC-bearing galaxies in the two samples, respectively, where we require candidate NSCs to have a separation of less than 0.10 r _e from the galaxy center. We find that galaxies with low central surface brightness ( μ _0, _g > 24 mag arcsec ^−2 ) are more likely to contain an NSC if they (1) have a higher stellar mass, (2) have a higher stellar-to-total mass ratio, (3) have a brighter central surface brightness, (4) have a larger axis ratio, or (5) lie in a denser environment. Because of the correlations among these various quantities, it is likely that only one or two are true physical drivers. We also find scaling relations for the NSC mass with stellar mass ( M _NSC / ${M}_{\odot }={10}^{6.02\pm 0.03}{({M}_{* ,\mathrm{gal}}/{10}^{8}{M}_{\odot })}^{0.77\pm 0.04}$ ) and halo mass ( M _NSC / ${M}_{\odot }={10}^{6.11\pm 0.05}{({M}_{h,\mathrm{gal}}/{10}^{10}{M}_{\odot })}^{0.92\pm 0.05}$ ), although it is the scaling with halo mass that is consistent with a direct proportionality. In galaxies with an NSC, M _NSC ≈ 10 ^−4 M _h _,gal . This proportionality echoes the finding of a direct proportionality between the mass (or number) of globular clusters (GCs) in galaxies and the galaxy’s total mass. These findings favor a related origin for GCs and NSCs.

During the early merger of the Milky Way, intermediate-mass black holes (BHs) in merged dwarf galaxies may have been ejected from the center of their host galaxies due to gravitational waves, carrying some central stars along. This process can lead to the formation of hypercompact star clusters, potentially hosting BHs in the mass range of 10 ^4 –10 ^5 solar masses. These clusters are crucial targets for identifying and investigating intermediate-mass BHs. However, no hypercompact star clusters in the Milky Way have been identified so far. In this paper, taking advantage of the high spatial resolution power of Gaia, we used data from Gaia Early Data Release (EDR) 3 and Large-Area Multi-Object Fiber Optic Spectroscopic Telescope Data Release 7, along with additional data from Pan-STARRS and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, to conduct an initial screening of 6,138,049 sources using various parameters of Gaia EDR3. A total of 4786 sources were selected for in-depth analysis. Each of these sources was meticulously scrutinized by examining their images, spectra, and nearby celestial objects to exclude various false positives, such as contaminations, galaxies, wide binaries, or wrong matches. We finally identified one likely hypercompact star cluster candidate in the Milky Way, laying the foundation for further high-resolution imaging and spectral verification.

We present the first application of the novel approach based on data-driven machine learning methods applied to Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) field data to derive stellar abundances of star clusters. MUSE has been used to target more than 10,000 fields, and it is unique in its ability to study dense stellar fields such as stellar clusters providing spectra for each individual star. We use MUSE data of the extragalactic young stellar cluster NGC 1856, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We present the individual stellar [Fe/H] abundance of 327 cluster members in addition to [Mg/Fe], [Si/Fe], [Ti/Fe], [C/Fe], [Ni/Fe], and [Cr/Fe] abundances of subsample sets. Our results match the LMC abundances obtained in the literature for [Mg/Fe], [Ti/Fe], [Ni/Fe], and [Cr/Fe]. This study is the first to derive [Si/Fe] and [C/Fe] abundances for this cluster. The revolutionary combination of integral-field spectroscopy and data-driven modeling will allow us to understand the chemical enrichment of star clusters and their host galaxies in greater detail expanding our understanding of galaxy evolution.

Young massive star clusters, like the six red supergiant clusters in the Scutum complex, provide valuable insights into star formation and galaxy structures. We investigated the high-resolution near-infrared spectra of 60 RSG candidates in these clusters using the Immersion Grating Infrared Spectrograph. Among the candidates in RSGC4, we found significant scattering in radial velocity (−64 to 115 km s ^−1 ), unlike other clusters with velocities of ∼100 km s ^−1 . Most candidates in RSGC4 have Q _GK _s values larger than 1.7, suggesting that they could be early AGB stars. Four candidates in RSGC4 exhibit infrared excess and distinct absorption features absent in other candidates. Two of these stars exhibit absorption lines resembling those of D-type symbiotic stars, showing radial velocity changes in multiepoch observations. Analysis of relative proper motions revealed no runaway/walkaway stars in RSGC4. The dynamic properties of RSGC4 and RSGC1 differ from the disklike motions of other clusters: RSGC4 has low normalized horizontal action J _hor = J _ϕ / J _tot and vertical action J _ver = ( J _z − J _R )/ J _tot values and high eccentricities, while RSGC1 has vertical motions with high J _ver values and inclinations. We propose that RSGC4 may not be a genuine star cluster but rather a composite of RSGs and AGB stars distributed along the line of sight at similar distances, possibly originating from various environments. Our results suggest a complex and hierarchical secular evolution of star clusters in the Scutum complex, emphasizing the importance of considering factors beyond density crowding when identifying star clusters in the bulge regions.

Intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) are believed to be the missing link between the supermassive black holes (BHs) found at the centers of massive galaxies and BHs formed through stellar core collapse. One of the proposed mechanisms for their formation is a collisional runaway process in high-density young star clusters, where an unusually massive object forms through repeated stellar collisions and mergers, eventually collapsing to form an IMBH. This seed IMBH could then grow further through binary mergers with other stellar-mass BHs. Here we investigate the gravitational-wave (GW) signals produced during these later IMBH–BH mergers. We use a state-of-the-art semi-analytic approach to study the stellar dynamics and to characterize the rates and properties of IMBH–BH mergers. We also study the prospects for detection of these mergers by current and future GW observatories, both space-based (LISA) and ground-based (LIGO Voyager, Einstein Telescope, and Cosmic Explorer). We find that most of the merger signals could be detected, with some of them being multiband sources. Therefore, GWs represent a unique tool to test the collisional runaway scenario and to constrain the population of dynamically assembled IMBHs.

We present a multiwavelength analysis of the star cluster NGC 2316 and its surroundings. We estimated the physical parameters of the NGC 2316 cluster, including its shape (elongated), size ( R _cluster = 0.4 pc), distance (1.3 ± 0.3 kpc), and minimum reddening ( A _V = 1.55 mag). We discovered two massive stars (B2.0V-B1.5V, age ∼12 Myr) embedded ( A _V = 4 mag) within this cluster. The cluster region still forms young stars even though the most massive star was born ∼12 Myr ago. We also found evidence of positive feedback from these massive stars. We identified a cold gas/dust lane extending westward from the cluster. The western end of the dust lane seems to favor low-mass star formation, whereas the cluster end favors bit massive star formation, which seems to have started earlier than the western end. We found an elongated molecular cloud in this region, characterized by numerous filamentary structures. The morphology of the filaments, along with position–velocity maps, velocity dispersion maps, channel maps, etc., indicate a coalescence of filaments and a potential longitudinal flow of matter toward the cluster through the western end of the gas/dust lane. This entire region seems to be a Hub-filamentary system (HFS), in which the NGC 2316 cluster is probably the hub and the dark lane is the main filamentary structure. Being the gravity well of this HFS, star formation started first in the NGC 2316 region and went on to the other filamentary nodes.

We present our photometric search for potential nuclear star clusters (NSCs) in ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) as an extension of the SMUDGes catalog. We identify 325 SMUDGes galaxies with NSCs and, from the 144 with existing distance estimates, identify 33 NSC hosts as UDGs ( μ _0, _g ≥ 24 mag arcsec ^−2 , r _e ≥ 1.5 kpc). The SMUDGes with NSCs lie on the galaxy red sequence, satisfy the relationship between NSC and host galaxy stellar masses, have a mean NSC stellar mass fraction of 0.02 but reach as high as 0.1, have NSCs that are displaced from the host center with a standard deviation of 0.10 r _e , and weakly favor higher-density environments. All of these properties are consistent with previous results from higher surface brightness galaxy samples, allowing for at most a relatively weak dependence of NSC behavior on host galaxy surface brightness.

Using Gaia DR3 data, we identified an extended a ~60 pc group of stars sharing common motion but scattered in space, including from 150 to 300 probable members, named Group V. It can be associated with a group identified by Getman et al. (2019) and by Jerabkova et al. (2019) as a relic of a gas filament, traced by the mutual position of stars after the gas is swept out. We estimate its age to be approximately 16 million years. A combination of methods is applied to select probable members of Group V. We discuss the kinematic characteristics of the stars of Group V and the controversial clues they provide for understanding its nature. Due to the vicinity of a number of open clusters in the space, differentiating between members of the group and of the clusters is problematic, and mutual contamination is inevitable. The pair of clusters Gulliver 6 and UBC 17b is wrapped inside Group V but differs from it in kinematics.

An analytical review of the current state of the problems of stellar astronomy is presented. The review is mainly based on the reports made at the Modern Stellar Astronomy Conference (Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow State University, August 2021). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AstroSat, India's first UV and X-ray astronomy satellite, has completed over six years of observations while in orbit around the Earth. It has carried out detailed studies of all kinds of objects in the Universe ranging from single stars, stars in clusters, binary stars with compact companions like neutron stars and black holes, star formation in galaxies, supermassive black holes in active nuclei of galaxies, etc. Here, I give a short description of its UV and X-ray telescopes and detectors. Some of the most important results obtained using AstroSat will be described in Part II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex periodic variables (CPVs) are stars that exhibit highly structured and periodic optical light curves. Previous studies have indicated that these stars are typically disk-free pre-main-sequence M dwarfs with rotation periods ranging from 0.2 to 2 days. To advance our understanding of these enigmatic objects, we conducted a blind search using TESS 2 minute data of 65,760 K and M dwarfs with T

We have selected 337 intermediate- and high-mass young stellar objects (YSOs; 1.5–20 M _⊙ ) well-characterized with spectroscopy. By means of the clustering algorithm HDBSCAN, we study their clustering and association properties in the Gaia DR3 catalog as a function of stellar mass. We find that the lower-mass YSOs (1.5–4 M _⊙ ) have clustering rates of 55%–60% in Gaia astrometric space, a percentage similar to that found in the T Tauri regime. However, intermediate-mass YSOs in the range 4–10 M _⊙ show a decreasing clustering rate with stellar mass, down to 27%. We find tentative evidence suggesting that massive YSOs (>10 M _⊙ ) often (yet not always) appear clustered. We put forward the idea that most massive YSOs form via a mechanism that demands many low-mass stars around them. However, intermediate-mass YSOs form in a classical core-collapse T Tauri way, yet they do not appear often in the clusters around massive YSOs. We also find that intermediate- and high-mass YSOs become less clustered with decreasing disk emission and accretion rate. This points toward an evolution with time. For those sources that appear clustered, no major correlation is found between their stellar properties and the cluster sizes, number of cluster members, cluster densities, or distance to cluster centers. In doing this analysis, we report the identification of 55 new clusters. We tabulated all of the derived cluster parameters for the considered intermediate- and high-mass YSOs.

We present the first integrated-light, TESS-based light curves for star clusters in the Milky Way, Small Magellanic Cloud, and Large Magellanic Cloud. We explore the information encoded in these light curves, with particular emphasis on variability. We describe our publicly available package elk , which is designed to extract the light curves by applying principal component analysis to perform background light correction and incorporating corrections for TESS systematics, allowing us to detect variability on timescales shorter than ∼10 days. We perform a series of checks to ensure the quality of our light curves, removing observations where systematics are identified as dominant features, and deliver light curves for 348 previously cataloged open and globular clusters. Where TESS has observed a cluster in more than one observing sector, we provide separate light curves for each sector (for a total of 2204 light curves). We explore in detail the light curves of star clusters known to contain high-amplitude Cepheid and RR Lyrae variable stars, and we confirm that the variability of these known variables is still detectable when summed together with the light from thousands of other stars. We also demonstrate that even some low-amplitude stellar variability is preserved when integrating over a stellar population.

Using membership of 85 open clusters from previous studies based on Gaia Data Release 3 data, we identify binary candidates in the color–magnitude diagram for systems with mass ratio q > 0.4. The binary fraction is corrected for incompleteness at different distances due to the Gaia angular resolution limit. We find a decreasing binary fraction with increasing cluster age, with substantial scatter. For clusters with a total mass >200 M _⊙ , the binary fraction is independent of cluster mass. The binary fraction depends strongly on stellar density. Among the four types of cluster environments, the lowest-density filamentary and fractal stellar groups have the highest mean binary fraction: 23.6% and 23.2%, respectively. The mean binary fraction in tidal tail clusters is 20.8% and is lowest in the densest halo-type clusters: 14.8%. We find clear evidence of early disruptions of binary stars in the cluster sample. The radial binary fraction depends strongly on the clustercentric distance across all four types of environments, with the smallest binary fraction within the half-mass radius r _h and increasing toward a few r _h . Only hints of mass segregation are found in the target clusters. The observed amounts of mass segregation are not significant enough to generate a global effect inside the target clusters. We evaluate the bias of unresolved binary systems (assuming a primary mass of 1 M _⊙ ) in 1D tangential velocity, which is 0.1–1 km s ^−1 . Further studies are required to characterize the internal star cluster kinematics using Gaia proper motions.

We developed techniques for searching young unresolved star groupings (clusters, associations, and their complexes) and of estimating their physical parameters. Our study is based on spectroscopic, spectrophotometric, and UBVRI photometric observations of 19 spiral galaxies. In the studied galaxies, we found 1510 objects younger than 10 Myr and present their catalogue. Having combined photometric and spectroscopic data, we derived extinctions, chemical abundances, sizes, ages, and masses of these groupings. We discuss separately the specific cases, when the gas extinction does not agree with the interstellar one. We assume that this is due to spatial offset of Hii clouds with respect to the related stellar population.We developed a method to estimate age of stellar population of the studied complexes using their morphology and the relation with associated H emission region. In result we obtained the estimates of chemical abundances for 80, masses for 63, and ages for 57 young objects observed in seven galaxies.

In this paper, we address the question of how a central intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) in a globular cluster (GC) affects dynamics, core collapse, and formation of the binary population. It is shown that the central IMBH forms a binary system that affects dynamics of stars in the cluster significantly. The presence of an intermediate-mass black hole with mass ≥ 1.0-1.7%of the total stellar mass in the cluster inhibits the formation of binary stars population.

We report on over 13 yr of optical and near-ultraviolet spectropolarimetric observations of the famous luminous blue variable (LBV) P Cygni. In the lives of the most massive stars, LBVs are a critical transitional phase and achieve the largest mass-loss rates of any group of stars. Using spectropolarimetry, we are able to learn about the geometry of the near-circumstellar environment surrounding P Cygni and gain insights into LBV mass loss. Using data from the HPOL and WUPPE spectropolarimeters, we estimate the interstellar polarization contribution to P Cygni's spectropolarimetric signal, analyze the variability of the polarization across the Hα emission line, search for periodic signals in the data, and introduce a statistical method to search for preferred position angles in deviations from spherical symmetry that is novel to astronomy. Our data are consistent with previous findings, showing free electron scattering off of clumps uniformly distributed around the star. This is complicated, however, by structure in the percent polarization of the Hα line and a series of previously undetected periodicities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This interdisciplinary work proposes to use astronomical objects as a ludic tool to arouse student's curiosity, provide opportunities and enhance the teaching-learning process in Physics II and Statistical Mechanics classes. Its purpose is to discuss whether the Maxwell-Boltzmann velocity distribution law for ideal gases also describes the behavior of star velocities in star clusters. For this, the student's investigative thoughts it will be triggered by star velocity data, obtained through observations from the Blanco telescope and KPNO (Kitt Peak National Observatory), provided in the literature for the Omega Centauri globular cluster and the Pleiades open star cluster. It can be concluded that in dynamically relaxed globular clusters, although physically very different from ideal gases, stars follow Maxwell-Boltzmann's law of velocity distribution. This is because, in fact, any classical many-body system that satisfies the two assumptions used in the computations of velocity distribution will satisfy the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution, regardless of whether the interaction between the bodies is of short or long-range and whether they are microscopic or macroscopic objects. Thus, by demonstrating that star clusters follow ideal gas-like laws, it became possible to use the ludic of astronomy to encourage students in the process of learning the content of the kinetic theory of gases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ten binary black hole mergers have already been detected during the first two observing runs of advanced LIGO and Virgo, and many more are expected to be observed in the near future. This opens the possibility for gravitational-wave (GW) astronomy to better constrain the properties of black hole binaries—not only as single sources, but as a whole astrophysical population. In this paper, we address the problem of using GW measurements to estimate the proportion of merging black holes produced either via isolated binaries or binaries evolving in young star clusters. To this end, we use a Bayesian hierarchical modeling approach applied to catalogs of merging binary black holes generated using state-of-the-art population synthesis and N-body codes. In particular, we show that, although current advanced LIGO/Virgo observations only mildly constrain the mixing fraction between the two formation channels, we expect to narrow down the fractional errors on to 10%–20% after a few hundreds of detections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the case of a random isotropic velocity field, in which one of the velocity components (the 'radial' component, with magnitude |$v$| |$z$| ) can be measured easily, while measurement of the velocity perpendicular to this component (the 'transverse' component, with magnitude |$v$| T ) is more difficult and requires long-time monitoring. Particularly important examples are the motion of galaxies at cosmological distances and the interpretation of Gaia data on the proper motion of stars in globular clusters and dwarf galaxies. We address two questions: what is the probability distribution of |$v$| T for a given |$v$| |$z$| , and for what choice of |$v$| |$z$| is the expected value of |$v$| T maximized? We show that, for a given |$v$| |$z$| , the probability that |$v$| T exceeds some value |$v$| 0 is |$p(v_T \ge v_0 | v_z) = p_{z} \left(\sqrt{v_0^2 + v_z^2}\right)/{p_z(v_z)}$|⁠, where p |$z$| (⁠|$v$| |$z$| ) is the probability distribution of |$v$| |$z$| . The expected value of |$v$| T is maximized by choosing |$v$| |$z$| as large as possible whenever |$\ln p_z(\sqrt{v_z})$| has a positive second derivative, and by taking |$v$| |$z$| as small as possible when this second derivative is negative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spectroscopic observations of a massive star formation in the ultraviolet and their interpretation are reviewed. After a brief historical retrospective, two well-studied resolved star clusters and the surrounding H II regions are introduced: NGC 2070 in the Large Magellanic Cloud and NGC 604 in M33. These regions serve as a training set for studies of more distant clusters, which can no longer be resolved into individual stars. Observations of recently formed star clusters and extended regions in star-forming galaxies in the nearby universe beyond the Local Group are presented. Their interpretation relies on spectral synthesis models. The successes and failures of such models are discussed, and future directions are highlighted. I present a case study of the extraordinary star cluster and giant H II region in the blue compact galaxy II Zw 40. The review concludes with a preview of two upcoming Hubble Space Telescope programs: ULLYSES, a survey of massive stars in nearby galaxies, and CLASSY, a study of massive star clusters in star-forming galaxies.

We present adaptive optics (AO)-assisted integral-field spectroscopy of the intermediate-age star cluster NGC 419 in the Small Magellanic Cloud. By investigating the cluster dynamics and the rotation properties of main-sequence turn-off (MSTO) stars, we demonstrate the power of AO-fed MUSE observations for this class of objects. Based on $$1\, 049$$ radial velocity measurements, we determine a dynamical cluster mass of $$1.4\pm 0.2\times 10^5\, {\rm M_\odot}$$ and a dynamical mass-to-light ratio of 0.67 ± 0.08, marginally higher than simple stellar population predictions for a Kroupa initial mass function. A stacking analysis of spectra at both sides of the extended MSTO reveals significant rotational broadening. Our analysis further provides tentative evidence that red MSTO stars rotate faster than their blue counterparts. We find average V sin  i values of $$87\pm 16$$ and $$130\pm 22\, {\rm km\, s^{-1}}$$ for blue and red MSTO stars, respectively. Potential systematic effects due to the low-spectral resolution of MUSE can reach $$30\, {\rm km\, s^{-1}}$$ but the difference in V sin  i between the populations is unlikely to be affected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present mean proper motions and membership probabilities of individual stars for optically visible open clusters, which have been determined using data from the UCAC5 catalogue. This follows our previous studies with the UCAC2 and UCAC4 catalogues, but now using improved proper motions in the GAIA reference frame. In the present study results were obtained for a sample of 1108 open clusters. For five clusters, this is the first determination of mean proper motion, and for the whole sample, we present results with a much larger number of identified astrometric member stars than on previous studies. It is the last update of our Open cluster Catalogue based on proper motion data only. Future updates will count on astrometric, photometric and spectroscopic GAIA data as input for analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We extend the formalism of a previous paper to include the effects of flybys and instantaneous perturbations such as supernovae on the long-term secular evolution of hierarchical multiple systems with an arbitrary number of bodies and hierarchy, provided that the system is composed of nested binary orbits. To model secular encounters, we expand the Hamiltonian in terms of the ratio of the separation of the perturber with respect to the barycentre of the multiple system, to the separation of the widest orbit. Subsequently, we integrate over the perturber orbit numerically or analytically. We verify our method for secular encounters and illustrate it with an example. Furthermore, we describe a method to compute instantaneous orbital changes to multiple systems, such as asymmetric supernovae and impulsive encounters. The secular code, with implementation of the extensions described in this paper, is publicly available within amuse, and we provide a number of simple example scripts to illustrate its usage for secular and impulsive encounters and asymmetric supernovae. The extensions presented in this paper are a next step towards efficiently modelling the evolution of complex multiple systems embedded in star clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a new technique to probe the central dark matter (DM) density profile of galaxies that harnesses both the survival and observed properties of star clusters. As a first application, we apply our method to the 'ultra-faint' dwarf Eridanus II (Eri II) that has a lone star cluster ∼45 pc from its centre. Using a grid of collisional N -body simulations, incorporating the effects of stellar evolution, external tides and dynamical friction, we show that a DM core for Eri II naturally reproduces the size and the projected position of its star cluster. By contrast, a dense cusped galaxy requires the cluster to lie implausibly far from the centre of Eri II (>1 kpc), with a high inclination orbit that must be observed at a particular orbital phase. Our results, therefore, favour a DM core. This implies that either a cold DM cusp was 'heated up' at the centre of Eri II by bursty star formation or we are seeing an evidence for physics beyond cold DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Essential ideas, successes, and difficulties of Areal Density Analysis (ADA) for color-magnitude diagrams (CMD’s) of resolved stellar populations are examined, with explanation of various algorithms and strategies for optimal performance. A CMDgeneration program computes theoretical datasets with simulated observational error and a solution program inverts the problem by the method of Differential Corrections (DC) so as to compute parameter values from observed magnitudes and colors, with standard error estimates and correlation coefficients. ADA promises not only impersonal results, but also significant saving of labor, especially where a given dataset is analyzed with several evolution models. Observational errors and multiple star systems, along with various single star characteristics and phenomena, are modeled directly via the Functional Statistics Algorithm (FSA). Unlike Monte Carlo, FSA is not dependent on a random number generator. Discussions include difficulties and overall requirements, such as need for fast evolutionary computation and realization of goals within machine memory limits. Degradation of results due to influence of pixelization on derivatives, Initial Mass Function (IMF) quantization, IMF steepness, low Areal Densities (A), and large variation in A are reduced or eliminated through a variety of schemes that are explained sufficiently for general application. The Levenberg-Marquardt and MMS algorithms for improvement of solution convergence are contained within the DC program. An example of convergence, which typically is very good, is shown in tabular form. A number of theoretical and practical solution issues are discussed, as are prospects for further development.

A review of the properties of the Tarantula Nebula (30 Doradus) in the Large Magellanic Cloud is presented, primarily from the perspective of its massive star content. The proximity of the Tarantula and its accessibility to X-ray through radio observations permit it to serve as a Rosetta Stone amongst extragalactic supergiant HII regions since one can consider both its integrated characteristics and the individual properties of individual massive stars. Recent surveys of its high mass stellar content, notably the VLT FLAMES Tarantula Survey (VFTS), are reviewed, together with VLT/MUSE observations of the central ionizing region NGC 2070 and HST/STIS spectroscopy of the young dense cluster R136, provide a near complete Hertzsprung-Russell diagram of the region, and cumulative ionizing output. Several high mass binaries are highlighted, some of which have been identified from a recent X-ray survey. Brief comparisons with the stellar content of giant HII regions in the Milky Way (NGC 3372) and Small Magellanic Cloud (NGC 346) are also made, together with Green Pea galaxies and star forming knots in high-z galaxies. Finally, the prospect of studying massive stars in metal poor galaxies is evaluated.

We report Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys observations of two nearby gas-rich dwarf galaxies: DDO 161 and UGCA 319. Their distances determined via the tip of the red giant branch are 6.03+0.29 -0.21 and 5.75 ± 0.18 Mpc, respectively. The galaxies form an isolated pair dynamically well separated from the nearest neighbours: KK 176 (7.28 ± 0.29 Mpc) and NGC 5068 (5.16 ± 0.21 Mpc). All four galaxies have a bulk spatial peculiar velocity towards the Virgo cluster of ~158 ± 17 km s-1 in the Local Group rest frame and ~330 km s-1 with respect to the cluster centre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]