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1991•Publications of the Astronomical Society of JapanOpen access

Merger and Disruption Lifetimes of Binary Star Clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Rajiv K. Bhatia

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Abstract

Abstract We have computed the times of merger (due to mutual gravitational interaction) and disruption (by the tidal field of the the LMC and by passing Giant Molecular Clouds–GMCs) of binary star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud as a function of the separation of the components. As expected, close pairs merge while wide pairs are disrupted mainly by the tidal field, the effect of the GMCs being small. The total effect of the three processes shows that the lifetime of binary clusters varies from ~ 106 yr to a maximum of ~ 4 × 107 yr, consistent with the ages known for some of them.

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Abstract We have computed the times of merger (due to mutual gravitational interaction) and disruption (by the tidal field of the the LMC and by passing Giant Molecular Clouds–GMCs) of binary star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud as a function of the separation of the components. As expected, close pairs merge while wide pairs are disrupted mainly by the tidal field, the effect of the GMCs being small. The total effect of the three processes shows that the lifetime of binary clusters varies from ~ 106 yr to a maximum of ~ 4 × 107 yr, consistent with the ages known for some of them.

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Available abstract

Abstract We have computed the times of merger (due to mutual gravitational interaction) and disruption (by the tidal field of the the LMC and by passing Giant Molecular Clouds–GMCs) of binary star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud as a function of the separation of the components. As expected, close pairs merge while wide pairs are disrupted mainly by the tidal field, the effect of the GMCs being small. The total effect of the three processes shows that the lifetime of binary clusters varies from ~ 106 yr to a maximum of ~ 4 × 107 yr, consistent with the ages known for some of them.

Key concepts: Physics, Large Magellanic Cloud, Astrophysics, Astronomy, Binary number, Binary star, Star (game theory), Cloud computing

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