Understanding stellar birth using old star clusters
Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - 18:00
in Astronomy & Space
It is now known that most, if not all, of the stars in our Galaxy were born in star clusters. These spherical groupings contain anywhere from a few tens to several million members all milling about under the influence of gravity. But their fate is sealed. All star clusters slowly dissolve over time. "The net effect of this is that their stars eventually become redistributed throughout the Galaxy," said Nathan Leigh, a PhD student at McMaster University and lead author for a study being presented this week at the CASCA 2011 meeting in Ontario, Canada. "This is how we think most of the stars in the Milky Way came to be found in their currently observed locations."
